Country Maid Outfits
by Planar Piplup
Summary: Post-Matsuribayashi. After a couple of hard days as Mion's slave, Keiichi finds the nerves to confess to her; this is the world of the Good End Hinamizawa. Elsewhere, another Keiichi ends the remnants of many Dead End Hinamizawas.
1. Prologue: The Toy Sniper

Prologue

Dim streetlamps cast long shadows; shadows that spread across cold pavements, concealing all those in its dark embrace. The shadows made a good hiding place for those that would prefer to be unseen but it was also suffocating to those that wanted to escape such dark blankets. These shadows belonged to a dark and narrow street. Only two kinds of people could be found in such a street, criminals and victims. Tonight, this place harbored two such people. And yet this street was not a shady street, although there were definitely many shadows, this street was a commonly traveled route for children heading home from school. However, the street was currently silent, save for a couple of children. And it would've also been the site of a terrible tragedy, had it not been for the intervention of a certain person.

A little girl was walking in this dark street. She was very young, a little kid… whether she was going to her friend's house or going to the store to help on her chores, it didn't matter to a brown haired boy hiding away in the dark cloak of the shadows. The boy was holding a model gun, a toy, although one that could cause real pain.

Recently there had been a string of serial shootings targeting little children, especially girls. Initially it was just a few pellets here, a few pellets there, but eventually the shootings increased. Soon enough, children had to run away screaming while shielding themselves with their arms as the ra-ta-ta'ings of air soft pellets rained down on them, leaving hideous welts on their tiny arms. Although no one had been seriously injured, it was definitely a traumatic experience for the children who had been victimized in such a way. These days, children walked in groups to decrease the likelihood of such an event, but the occasional child walking alone could still be assaulted by the rain of pellet fire. This dark street contained such a child, a little girl foolishly walking all alone, not knowing that she was being watched from the shadows.

The brown haired boy wondered why the little girl was walking in the street, and all by herself. _It's all plastered everywhere in the school that kids shouldn't be outside by themselves. How careless of her, and she deserves it - it's all her fault._ The boy was selfish; he couldn't empathize with other people at all. His mind could easily be described of as sick. He looked down on his fellow man; he fancied himself as superior, if not in athletics then at least in intellect. But he had grown tired of intellectual pursuits; he currently preferred assaulting little girls, knowing he would never be caught. He reveled in public announcements that would warn about his presence, all the while not knowing his identity. And even after precautions were taken against him, still he continued his assaults. He took gleeful joy in not having been caught, knowing that he had outsmarted everyone including the police. He was sick; his mind was that of a sociopath's. And with the same mind that thought up that selfish quibbling, he assaulted the little girl. He fired several rounds from his model gun into her back.

The little girl felt an odd sensation on her back. She wondered if a bug had flown into her, or perhaps it was hailing. But then the sensations on her back began to sting, it felt like someone had thrown tiny rocks at her, was still throwing rocks at her. With a youthful naivety, the little girl began to turn around to see what was causing her pain, not taking care to shield her eyes.

But just as the little girl was about to turn around, a purple haired woman wearing a yellow dress appeared.

The woman had appeared in front of the little girl, seemingly out of nowhere, but it was a really dark street and so the brown haired boy couldn't be sure. The little girl's attention was now completely in front of her, on the mysterious purple haired woman, a direct 180° from the brown haired boy's current position. The boy wondered at what was going on, but was simply more frustrated that he couldn't continue his assault, not with that purple haired woman there at least. Then suddenly the little girl ran off, away from the street and far away from the brown haired boy. The boy was really frustrated; he had just lost his target. The only people left in this dark street were the boy and the mysterious woman; the boy had no choice, he just ran home with his model gun tucked behind his arms. He would just return here another time and hopefully that foolish girl would be here; and if not her, then someone else he could assault. Someone else that he could take sick pleasure in hurting.

The mysterious purple haired woman simply watched the brown haired boy run off. She was smiling as she wondered what would happen now. She wondered what Keiichi would be like, now that his assault of this little girl had ended prematurely, now that he hadn't blinded her. Would a better world be made? Or would it be a worse world? She would wait and she would see… Unfortunately for her and everyone, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.


	2. Country Maid

Chapter 1

The sky was engulfed by a dark haze, even the sun couldn't penetrate through such a cloak. The only noise that could be heard was the clattering of the rain against the hard surfaces of the terrain, the only sounds that dared to force its way through the deafening clattering was the occasional thunder. Even the cicadas that tended to cry incessantly throughout this place didn't dare make a peep against this weather, or perhaps their crying was squelched by the sounds of the weather. This was a highly depressing environment that caused people to just sit around sullenly with no courage to speak against the clattering of the rain. However, in one particular classroom, the sounds of a heated battle could be heard…

"Ohhhh-ho-ho-ho-ho-hooo. Even though Keiichi-san and Mion-san have come into an alliance, they are still 10,000 years too early to defeat me." It was Satoko, a young blonde haired girl who was holding a straightened palm vertically to the side of her mouth as she laughed haughtily. She was taunting the two other remaining generals.

The three generals consisted of the aforementioned Hojo Satoko; Maebara Keiichi, a brown haired, purple eyed teenage boy; and Sonozaki Mion, a teenage girl with long green hair tied into a long ponytail. They were sitting around a board game and they were situated into three corners. Each was sitting by their controlled portion of the board. Keiichi's corner consisted of numerous brown pieces resembling people, placed on top of numerous territories shaped like North and South America. Mion had many green pieces placed along territories meant to look like Australia and East Asia. Satoko's area, however, stretched the entire center of the map which consisted of Europe, Africa, and many parts of Asia. Not only that, her territories consisted of a horde of yellow pieces that easily doubled Mion and Keiichi's forces combined. It did not look like she could possibly lose.

The club was playing Risk, the game of conquest. Watching the three would-be generals were the other club members who had long since been defeated. These defeated and conquered generals consisted of Ryugu Rena, a cheery red haired girl who was in the same grade as Keiichi; Furude Rika, a young girl with long dark purple hair who was Satoko's peer; and Furude Hanyuu, the newest member of the club. They were all watching the battle intently as Keiichi and Mion had just agreed to an alliance to stop the yellow menace known as Trap Master Satoko. Satoko could've easily wiped either of the two remaining generals off the face of the map and so Mion and Keiichi were forced into an alliance of convenience; rather, their very survival.

Mion had just finished up her turn, weakening Satoko's North European and Eastern African defenses although at the cost of several of her own infantrymen.

"Ohhhhh-ho-ho-ho-ho-hooo. Is that all the Keiichi/Mion alliance can muster? You'll need a lot more than that to worry me and even more to take me down." Satoko was laughing haughtily, anyone that had ever described a scream as 'ear-splitting' clearly hadn't heard Satoko's laugh. This laugh signaled inevitable defeat to all who heard it and inevitable victory to whoever ushered it. It did not appear as though Satoko could be defeated, Satoko was too strong and the Keiichi/Mion alliance had come too late.

Suddenly Keiichi closed his eyes and started tapping the table they were playing on with a set of Risk cards held fixed between his fingers; he was smirking. It was now his turn and he appeared to have a trick up his sleeve; rather, a trick nestled between his fingers.

Satoko wondered if Keiichi was bluffing, acting aloof in an attempt to throw her off her guard and steal all of her acquired territories. A pitiful last ditch effort if that was the case and Satoko decided she would savor in her coming victory. Keiichi would look so foolish when he was defeated, especially after having put on this false show of bravado.

"Wipe that smirk off your face Keiichi. I see through your bluff, there is no way you can defeat me! Ohohohoho!" said Satoko. However, Satoko, seeing that Keiichi had not stopped smirking, began to worry. Either Keiichi was insanely stubborn in sticking to his show of bravado or he genuinely had an ace that would bring her falling down face-flat.

Keiichi kept his smirk trained on Satoko, while maintaining his aloofness, as he said: "Ahehe Satoko. It appears as though you've left your western front a little too unmanned. You shouldn't have underestimated the man who would decimate your armies. And for that matter, you shouldn't have underestimated Mion either." Keiichi sent Mion a knowing smile as he said this. Mion returned his smile with a mischievous one, a precursor to the end of their mutual enemy. "For you see, Mion softened you up just enough for your demise."

Satoko looked shocked; a visible sweat-drop had appeared on her head. However, she quickly regained her composure as she noticed that Keiichi did not have the manpower to break her western defense; regardless of the fact that it was indeed a bit unmanned. "No way Keiichi! You're still a continent short of defeating me; you do not have the manpower," said Satoko.

"Indeed I was. But now…!" And suddenly with a dramatic downward motion with his arm, he slammed the set of Risk cards he was holding down onto the table, spreading the cards out for all to see. He had a matching set that when turned in would allow him to obtain an additional 10 infantrymen, more than enough to break through her western defense and rend Africa and the greater part of Europe apart.

The club members no longer involved in the game audibly showed their surprise by this turn of events. But they were truly just excited by Keiichi's dramatic display as opposed to any genuine interest in the game. Either way, Keiichi was living it up in this turning point of the game as he moved his armies through each of Satoko's territories. By the end of Keiichi's turn, Satoko's horde of yellow soldiers was reduced to a few yellow pieces in Europe.

Satoko sighed. It was now her turn and it was over for her, she consolidated her few remaining soldiers onto Greenland as she waited for her inevitable defeat. Her blonde hair now seemed to cast a shadow on her downcast eyes. This image contrasted heavily with the prior image of Satoko laughing haughtily when she looked down upon Keiichi and Mion. Satoko had to end her turn, giving Mion the chance to deal the deathblow.

"All right! Now it's Ojisan's turn! Prepare to meet your maker Satoko! Kukuku!" said Mion. This teenage girl resembled a winning dictator as she snickered. Then she broke out into fully crazed laughter as she cleaned up Satoko's remaining forces, firmly punctuating her appearance as a maniacal dictator.

Rena and the others looked on at Mion's maniacal display bemusedly. From where they were, it looked as though Mion had honestly believed that she was conquering the world and that the board game was simply a sort of screen displaying her progress. A dark gloom fell over Satoko; Mion was being overwhelmed by her own insane laughter as she indulged herself in her victory.

Rena who was smiling said, "Why is Mii-chan so excited I wonder, I wonder."

Rika looked at Rena and smiled, responding: "…I think it's because Mion hasn't gotten to finish anyone yet. Pity, pity. Satoko has been the one doing that."

Even Hanyuu piped up, "Auu. I'm nervous. A fight between Keiichi and Mion? _Scary."_

Rena thought Hanyuu had become too adorable and had the urge to take her home but then she noticed Satoko. Satoko was sullenly walking over to them in the losers' corner. They all turned their attention back to the game that was now between Keiichi and Mion. It was better not to bother Satoko after such a defeat, anyone would be depressed after falling down from such a height but Satoko could be particularly scary.

Mion smiled at Keiichi, proud of her recent victory. "So Kei-chan, it looks like you and I are good together." Mion immediately blushed slightly as she realized what she had just said; either she was becoming braver with Keiichi or she was still too intoxicated with victory to retain her tomboyish appearance. Keiichi didn't seem to mind what Mion had said nor had he noticed her slight blush.

"So it seems… That's why it pains me to have to wipe you off the map. Just take a look at the map Mion. Your forces are weak and all over the place. While mine are… JUST AS PLANNED!" Both Mion and Keiichi each controlled precisely half of the map at this point; the contested territory was now Europe and the victor over that continent would effectively control the entire world. However, while they both owned half the map, Keiichi's side had each of his fronts densely populated. Mion's side of the map was a desert in comparison to Keiichi's; it would take a miracle for Mion to win this game.

"Kei-chan, such treachery! Oji-san won't let this go. You'll be begging for forgiveness when I win. In fact, let's make this interesting; let's make _this_ a penalty game. If you win then I'll dress up as a maid and do your homework for a day."

Keiichi scoffed, "Tch. You're insane Mion, what reason could a dying general like you have for making a losing bet like that?"

"Are you scared, coward?" said Mion mockingly at Keiichi.

"No way! Anyway, what you're putting up is hardly worth anything. Although it would be a good laugh to see you in a maid outfit, I might as well throw my homework away if I'm giving it to you," said Keiichi who had thrown his hands in the air.

"Fine! If what I'm putting up isn't to your liking then just what do you want?"

Keiichi pondered this for a moment. "For starters I want you to wear a normal school sailor uniform but with a short skirt! For a school week! And when something unfortunate happens, say… if Satoko pushes you down then you won't resist and you'll cry, convincingly! Like a girl! And…um…and…" Keiichi began to drool as he thought of more cute things he could make Mion do. "Moe…" he whispered, savoring the thought of Mion in such a state. Mion interrupted his fantasy.

Although Mion blushed slightly at what she'd have to do if she lost, she seemed to blush more these days but no one seemed to notice, she quickly snapped out of it. "Fine then! But if _I_ win then you have to be my personal slave and you'll have to cater to my every whim and call me master. For a week!" Mion smiled deviously, thinking of the many things she could force him to do; one of which involved her head on his lap while he was wearing a maid outfit and cleaning out her ears. An odd fantasy for sure.

Keiichi felt an odd sensation, déjà vu, but he regained his senses. "Ha. The wagers hardly seem equal. You act like a girl or me being your slave. But victory is surely mine so it doesn't matter," said Keiichi as he waved his hand from side dismissing the possibility of losing. "And all I have to do is take control of Scandinavia, an 85 chance in itself, and this game is over; not even counting the other territories."

"So the terms of the wagers are agreed?" said Mion, still smiling deviously.

"Agreed," said Keiichi simply, carrying an arrogant smile. "There is absolutely no way I can lose."

It wasn't even five minutes later before Keiichi's arrogance was replaced by sheer horror. "How could this happen? …how am I losing?" Keiichi was horrified as his armies were being decimated and a penetrating fear told him that his punishment for defying Mion would not be a pleasant one. Keiichi also lamented a bit at being unable to see a moe Mion; instead, he would most assuredly have to do the most humiliating things while dressed up in a maid outfit or female gym clothes. The thought brought a shiver to Keiichi's very core.

Mion snickered as her forces overwhelmed Keiichi, clearly her mind was more on her spoils of war than on the game itself. Soon enough Keiichi had but a single territory left. The pitiful territory was surrounded, a blemish of brown within a dense ring of green.

"So Kei-chan, do you have any last words as you watch the final remnants of your empire crumble?" said Mion. She was clearly gleeful and it was obvious that she did not want the battle to end, drawing out Keiichi's suffering for as long as possible. "Prepare to pay for your crimes."

"Crimes? What did I do?" asked Keiichi, an incredulous look on his face.

"You betrayed Oji-san of course. Don't think I'd forget just because I'm your elder."

"Tch. You would've done the same thing."

"Perhaps, but that's why I'm just enslaving you and not executing you like you deserve. Besides, all's fair in love and war." No one, including Mion herself, seemed to catch the implications of what she just said. "Prepare yourself _Kei-chan_," said Mion as she knocked off the final piece representing Keiichi's place in the world.

"NOOOOOO!!" screamed Keiichi as though a bomb had just detonated in his face; although he would soon have to face a fate worse than death, enslavement by Mion. Truly though, the participants were being rather dramatic about the whole game but then again, the stakes were real. Blurring the distinction between game and reality, this was a primary characteristic of this little after-school club.

It was over. Mion had won; there wasn't a single non-green piece on the map. Mion had achieved total dominance. Inwardly she was ecstatic, she would make Keiichi do this and that… and without Mion knowing, a slight blush had formed on her cheeks. Outwardly though, she looked calm as she walked over to Keiichi. She was displaying a surprising amount of respect for the defeated general. Mion placed a hand on Keiichi's shoulder, whose face was sunken with a shadow covering his eyes. This appearance that Keiichi bore now was much like that of Satoko's moments before. The fact that he was now Mion's slave had finally sunk in.

"Kei-chan, it's over. You put up a good fight but it's over now," said Mion calmly.

"…what would you have me do, _master?"_ The word seemed to burn Keiich's tongue as he spoke it.

"Now, now Kei-chan. You don't have to call me master." Keiichi gave a sigh of relief; he would be able to retain some measure of dignity at least. "Instead, call me Goddess."

"WHAT?!" Keiichi's blood boiled, Mion had become full of herself. It was obvious to Keiichi that Mion, with this elitist title, fully intended to treat Keiichi worse than she ever did before. He could not take this lying down, he had to retain some modicum of respect, and he had to say something. "Just what are you goddess of, Mion?" said Keiichi sarcastically.

Mion pondered this for a moment. "The Goddess of Victory," said Mion as she grinned evilly, her hand still on Keiichi's shoulder.

Keiichi's head sunk even lower as he accepted his new lot in life. He was now Mion's slave. His soul cried out as he realized what this would entail. But then again, Keiichi hoped, this could be fun… but probably not.

* * *

"It's so great Shion! Kei-chan has to be my slave for an entire week! Ehehe, I'm going to make him do this and that…" Mion was speaking to her sister Shion. Shion was Mion's identical sister and as a result, their appearances were almost identical save for the fact that Shion let her hair down while Mion had her hair in a long ponytail.

While the appearances of the twin sisters were practically the same and highly interchangeable, indeed they had often switched identities in the past, their personalities couldn't be more different. Where Mion was tomboyish, Shion was feminine. Their contrast in personalities was also reflected in their clothes; where Mion wore an incredibly unappealing long skirt, Shion wore a skirt on the opposite end of the spectrum. And this was just their school uniforms, suffice it to say, their choice of casual clothes were starkly different; the former even carried around a holstered air soft gun. However, even with all of these differences they shared many traits. They both had a large measure of brashness as well as a deep bond with the other that could only be found in twin sisters.

The two Sonozaki sisters were in Mion's room in the Sonozaki estate. Although there used to be tension between Shion and the lord of the estate, their grandmother Oryou, it had long since been dealt with. These days Shion could often be found staying at the Sonozaki Estate as it was in close proximity to a certain blonde haired youth…

Currently, the two sisters were discussing the indentured servitude of Keiichi. Seeing Mion's extreme excitement on her lordship over Keiichi, Shion couldn't help but pity the clumsy guy.

"Now, now Sis. Contrary to what you may believe, the way to Kei-chan's heart is definitely not by making him your slave," said Shion, smiling to her older sister.

Mion was taken aback by what Shion had just said and began blushing madly. "W-wait! It's not like that! I'm making him my slave as…um… punishment! That's it! Punishment for him thinking he could best me at Risk," said Mion who had begun laughing nervously.

"Really Sis?"

"Waaan! You're right Shion…you're always right," Mion admitted. Now she was biting down on the top of her shirt, stifling her cries as her eyes welled up. It was a truly unflattering sight.

"It's all right Sis! You can still use this opportunity to show Kei-chan how you feel," said Mion assuredly as she began patting Mion on the shoulder.

"But it's so hard!" said Mion, her voice still muffled by the shirt in her mouth. Truly unflattering but the tears that glistened in her eyes gave off a sort of moe effect. Keiichi might have fallen in love with such a sight but he could've just as easily ran away horrified seeing that his best friend Mion was possessed by some kind of tear-inducing monster.

Mion continued her whining, "If only there was a pair of magical magatama. A red one and a white one that would make the holder of the red one fall in love with the holder of the white one. Then after Kei-chan and I fought all of Hinamizawa together, I would conveniently have an excuse to tell him I loved him since the white magatama would be on his shoe without him knowing. Then he'd run off after realizing it but the words 'I love you' would already be out. Everything could be so easy after that!"

Shion had an incredulous look on her face, "…that was oddly specific… and stupid."

"Aha. Yes, well… either way I can't do it."

Suddenly Shion's face contorted in anger. The atmosphere of the room suddenly changed from being whimsical, attributable to Mion's crying, to one that would bring sheer terror to anyone unfortunate enough to just happen upon the scene.

"IDIOT! If you desire love then you have to grab it by the balls. You might act tough Sis but I know you, Kei-chan turns you into a blushing block of butter that has begun to melt, err… most of the time at least. But that's beside the point! You and I will be going to college soon and if you don't do something about this Kei-chan situation then some other girl will sweep him off his feet while you're away!"

Mion imagined all of the potential girls that could steal Keiichi from her. First she thought of Rena, then Satoko, then Rika, then Hanyuu, then all of them at once; they were all too cute, Keiichi could not possibly resist, no man could. Mion whimpered a bit at the thought. Shion, seeing this, continued lecturing Mion.

"But worry not dear sister for I have a plan. What kind of sister would I be if I didn't help my sister with her love life? A bad one, that's what!" And then Shion began whispering the plan into Mion's ear while Mion's eyes still glistened with tears. It was a diabolical plan that may have just been devious enough to work.

The next day was bright and sunny, a perfect day to go out and enjoy the world. It contrasted greatly with the previous day's weather. Instead of a clouded sky, the sky was clear and blue; instead of the pounding of the rain, the birds were singing. Today was a great looking day, a complete inverse of the previous day's weather. Yesterday was an especially terrible day for a brown haired boy named Keiichi, for that day marked his enslavement.

Today, Keiichi was riding his bike. It was a great day for such an activity and yet he didn't look at all cheerful, quite the opposite in fact. He didn't want such weather for today or even the whole week.

Keiichi began muttering angrily to himself, "How the heck did the rainy weather pass so quickly? The roads aren't even muddy. If only it was still rainy then maybe Mion would go easy on me but there's absolutely no chance of that now. Well I'd hope she'd go easy on me but I seriously can't tell how she'd be. Sometimes she'd act shy and rather girly; other times, that is most of the time, she'd be enjoying my humiliation as she'd dress me up in dresses. Even though we've been friends for a bit now and have even defeated an evil organization together, I don't think I will ever understand her." Keiichi started sighing.

"But now, because of this _great_ weather, she's making me bike all the way to Okinomiya to meet her. In front of the Angel Mort no less. Please, please, please she's not teaming up with Shion to make me suffer. Mion won't rest until she sees me humiliated and suffering like a beaten dog. I really shouldn't have acted so high and mighty during that board game, now I have to endure Mion's retribution."

Suddenly Keiichi gained a renewed resolve. His face lit up, he no longer looked so depressed. "Aha! Because she wants to see me suffer, I will be a man and serve her happily. Hehehe, passive defiance. Mion's retribution will be hollow and I will win out at the end!" Keiichi started grinning deviously as he biked, thinking that he found the perfect plan.

Just as quickly as his resolve was renewed, he once again fell into a depressed state. Images of him being dressed up in all manners of woman's clothing as he attempted to keep a cheerful face depressed him. He would stick to his plan, he would keep a cheerful face with an iron resolve but he realized it wouldn't be that easy. But he continued thinking about all the times that Mion had dressed him up in the past. For some reason he thought of those times fondly, in truth he really didn't mind dressing up for Mion. Keiichi quickly shook his head, pushing away the thought. The villagers in Hinamizawa already thought he was a pervert for dressing up in those clothes; it wasn't healthy for him to actually have such perverted thoughts.

And so Keiichi continued towards Okinomiya and the Angel Mort. His depression hung around him like a dark cloud. He rode his bike slowly, dreading what awaited him in front of the Angel Mort. But before he knew it he was there. He parked his bike and attempted to look for Mion.

As Keiichi looked around he noticed something off the corner of his eye. It appeared to be the back of a beautiful woman wearing a pretty yet simple sun dress. Keiichi thought about how the dress really suited her but he himself dreaded the thought of ever wearing something like that. Then he noticed the rest of this person. She had long green hair tied into a long ponytail. She looked remarkably similar to Mion but Keiichi thought there was no possible way that this girly looking person could be her. He decided to call out her name.

Slowly the person turned around to face him. It was indeed Mion. Keiichi had to look again to make sure this was Mion and not Shion. It was still Mion. Keiichi had known the two long enough to tell who was who; he could pick up on the subtle nuances between the two.

Keiichi's jaw had dropped. A million thoughts coursed through his mind. He thought that maybe a girly monster had decided to make its home in Mion's body or worse yet, that this was part of one of Mion's elaborate plots that he couldn't comprehend. He was scared.

Mion was facing him but her eyes were averted so as to not meet Keiichi's. There was a light blush on her cheeks and a tiny embarrassed smile on her lips. She was acting incredibly shy.

"Um… let's go in," said Mion to Keiichi as she began to face the entrance to the Angel Mort.

Keiichi was deathly still, shock still on his face. Mion went into the Angel Mort. Keiichi relented and followed her in, head first into whatever trap awaited him.

Inside, the two were seated on a table near the middle of the café by an attractive looking waitress wearing a sexy outfit, standard for waitresses in the Angel Mort. Because Keiichi is a healthy male, he tended to enjoy those outfits whenever he was here but today he took no notice of it. His mind was still too shocked by Mion's appearance.

Suddenly another waitress popped in, this one with long free-falling green hair.

"Oh? Sis and Kei-chan? Are you two on a date?" said Shion, acting surprised. "Well then! I have the perfect thing for you two, the Lover's Delight!"

Keiichi instantly became even more surprised. "W-wait a second! Mion and I… we're not on a date! She's just my master and I'm here as her slave!" said Keiichi in an attempt to explain, although what he said ended up sounding even more suggestive.

Mion, who was sitting silently with downcast eyes and a light blush on her cheeks, quietly spoke.

"I… would like the Lover's Delight."

"B-but Mion! That item is for coup--" Keiichi was interrupted by Mion.

Mion suddenly regained her composure and began speaking to Keiichi in her standard mocking tone. "Did you forget Kei-chan? You are my slave and that means you have to treat me to whatever I want, and right now Oji-san wants the Lover's Delight. Also, I've already told you, call me Goddess."

Keiichi was speechless, he could do nothing accept concede to his master's wishes as per the terms of his wager. "Yes… Goddess…"

Shion smiled as she finished taking their order, a single Lover's Delight, and then she left them to go get their order.

Keiichi was shocked, his shock was apparent on his face. He looked incredibly unnerved. Already he could feel his plan to smile cheerfully in spite of the abuse crumble all around him

Keiichi and Mion simply sat at their table; both avoided looking directly into the eyes of the other. Before long, Shion returned with the Lover's Delight. It was a rather large ice cream dessert with plenty of sweets and other toppings on it. Shion placed the Lover's Delight between them and left them alone. When the two weren't looking, Shion hid behind a plant within the café. Her intention was to spy on them.

Keiichi and Mion marveled at the dessert. It was large for a dessert and was obviously meant for two people, in this case a couple. Oddly enough, for an item that was meant for two people it had only a single spoon. The purpose of that was clear and Keiichi's hand shook nervously under the table as he realized it.

Without saying anything, Mion grabbed a spoonful of the ice cream and placed it in her mouth. Her eyes instantly opened up widely, Keiichi could've sworn that he saw sparkles in the depths of her green eyes.

"Kei-chan. You really need to try this, it's so great…" Mion's face seemed so at peace after having finished that spoon of ice cream, as though the Lover's Delight was loaded with pure joy condensed into dairy form. Keiichi entertained the notion that it might have been loaded with morphine, that the Lover's delight was simply a means for Mion to have him unconscious as she'd dress him in something so terrible that he couldn't even conceive of it. And that the entirety of the Angel Mort was in on it. The Angel Mort was owned by the Sonozaki Family after all. But Keiichi figured Mion wouldn't have eaten the Lover's Delight if that was the case, probably not anyway. He still didn't want to try it though.

"Eh… I don't really…"

"Try it," Mion insisted. Although Mion hadn't shouted, Keiichi suddenly felt very small.

Keiichi remembered that he was a slave now and that he had to man up to his responsibilities, even if that included the eating of ice cream. "So is that an order or…?"

"It's an order," said Mion bluntly.

Keiichi had no choice, he was a slave and that was his order. Whether it was eating ice cream or carrying Mion's bags, he had to do it. He began to move towards the Lover's Delight but had momentarily forgotten that he had no spoon.

Mion, seeing that Keiichi had no spoon offered him her own. "There isn't really another spoon so…" said Mion, blushing. Keiichi hadn't noticed her blush though; his eyes were fixed squarely on the spoon. The spoon had been licked clean, Keiichi's face turned completely red. He tried to think of a way out of this and saw his chance as a waitress passed by.

"Excuse me, but I'd like another spoon please," said Keiichi to the waitress. The waitress nodded and was about to move to acquire a spoon until a green haired waitress shouted out from behind a decorative bush.

"Sorry! We don't have anymore spoons! You'll just need to use the one you have." It was Shion and she was insistent that he use the only spoon given to Keiichi and Mion. Keiichi wondered just what game the Sonozaki sisters were playing on him. While remaining at the table, Keiichi peeked behind the main counter. There were many spoons available and they all looked clean enough to eat off of, which is of course the use of a spoon. Why then, Keiichi wondered, was he not given one of them. This was clearly all some kind of trap but Keiichi realized he was being a poor slave. A real slave wouldn't have questioned his master's orders and so he relented. He moved to take the spoon from Mion.

Behind the bush, Shion was sighing. "Why do you have to make this so difficult Kei-chan?" said Shion, beyond audible range of Keiichi and Mion. "I wonder if there's anyone denser than you."

Keiichi took a spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth. The ice cream was indeed good but his mind was preoccupied by the fact that Mion had used this spoon. She had licked this spoon with her tongue. His tongue was now on the spoon that had been licked by Mion. By association with the spoon, it was as though his tongue had touched Mion's. Such an act was known as kissing. Keiichi's mind quickly flashed him an image of him and Mion kissing and his nose bled slightly at the thought. He quickly pushed the blood back in by breathing very carefully. As the empty spoon left his mouth, he felt ashamed, ashamed that he was such a pervert.

Then he remembered what he had said to that Koushien pitcher named Kameda, long ago. 'What's wrong with guys being perverts? All guys are perverts to their roots. The grandness of your manhood depends on whether you can admit that or not. It is the difference between Heaven and Earth!' Keiichi was surprised that he had forgotten about it, but hearing himself speak those words in his mind punched him right out of his shame. He wouldn't just admit his perversion, he would revel in it. But then Keiichi realized that he had gone too far. This was Mion he was thinking about, not simple pastries; his perversion speech was not nearly as applicable to the current situation. Still, thinking about when he had given the speech cheered him up. Keiichi was no longer so embarrassed, and he decided that he would have another spoon of the Lover's Delight.

Just as soon as he decided to have another taste of the ice cream, he realized that he was no longer holding a spoon. Mion had taken it and she was eating the ice cream at an alarming rate. Before Keiichi's mind finished processing what had happened, Mion had already finished the rest of the Lover's Delight.

"Ah Kei-chan. That was so tasty wasn't it?" said Mion, licking her lips.

Keiichi's jaw had dropped; he was doing that a lot today. He quickly regained his senses and brought his face closer as he shouted, "What the hell Mion! I wanted some of that!"

Mion placed her index finger on his nose; grinning wickedly she said, "You need to be faster then _Kei-chan_." She pushed him back with her finger but just as she did so the brain freeze from eating so much ice cream so fast set in. Mion rested her forehead on the table as she groaned.

Keiichi smirked at the display, taking enjoyment from Mion's pain. "Haha. Serves you right Mion."

After a moment, Mion's brain freeze began to subside and she slammed the table with her fists to remove the last remnants of the condition. "ALL RIGHT! Kei-chan, pay the bill so we can go," said Mion as she started towards the exit of the café.

Keiichi grumbled as he paid the bill. Of course he would have to pay for something he barely got to enjoy. Keiichi had long since abandoned his plan to accept the abuse with a smile. He could only imagine how much Mion was enjoying torturing him.

After Mion and Keiichi left the café, Shion stood up from her hiding spot behind the bush and started to follow them. That is until a hand on her shoulder stopped her from going. Shion turned around and saw her uncle, the proprietor of this place. She smiled nervously as her uncle started to speak.

"Shion… you aren't planning on skipping your shift are you?" said her uncle as he pointed Shion to some customers that needed help.

Shion carried a small frown as she walked towards the customers. She silently whispered her sister good luck.

"…good luck Sis. You can do it."

The young green haired master and her brown haired slave had just exited the Angel Mort and were now walking on the streets of Okinomiya. Noticing Keiichi's sullen face, she began playfully slapping him on the back.

"Kei-chan! That was fun wasn't it?" said Mion, a great big smile on her face.

Keiichi looked at her with downcast eyes and replied, "I wanted some of that ice cream too…"

"Oh? We can go back and have another round if you want."

Keiichi, hearing this, felt satisfied although he didn't know why. He was no longer sullen and shouted happily, "Nah, that'd be boring. Let's do something else!" It looked like the master and the slave had moved past the awkwardness inside the Angel Mort.

Mion seeing that Keiichi regained his sense of fun, the part she loved most about him, cheerfully suggested an activity. "Oji-san has a great idea! Let's. Go. SHOPPING!"

Keiichi was afraid, seeing Mion this ecstatic could mean only one thing. "Shopping for you? …or for me?"

Mion saw Keiichi's fear and simply smiled deviously, giving him no definitive answer. She then ran off, deeper into the city. Keiichi followed close behind her; he was a slave, he had no choice. But before he knew it, they had stopped in front of a store. It was an unassuming store; nothing was off about it at all. The outside had windows giving a view of the inside; it was just a regular woman's clothing store.

Mion walked inside and Keiichi followed. She looked at the various clothes; there were jeans, and shirts, and regular clothes that a modern woman would wear. Keiichi felt relaxed, it didn't seem as though Mion was going to find him anything odd to wear. He didn't find old Victorian era dresses lying around at least. It seemed she was here to shop for herself. Suddenly, a voice was directed at the master and slave pair.

"Mion-san? It's a pleasure to see you here." It was middle-aged man, apparently the owner. "And this, this is Maebara Keiichi is it not?" Keiichi was genuinely surprised at how this man knew his name; he had never been here before. "Are you two on a date?"

Mion shyly poked her index fingers together. A visible blush was on her face.

Keiichi was shocked at this man's insinuation; this was the second time today that he had to deny that this was anything like a date. "W-wait a sec! This is definitely not a date. I am just here as her slave!"

The man looked unfazed but quickly gave a little smile. "Well then, I have the perfect thing for you two," said the man as he started towards a room in the back of the store. Mion began to follow him and Keiichi followed her but he did not like where this was going at all.

The things inside this room hidden away in the back horrified Keiichi. All around him were creepy stuff; there were maid outfits, animal suits, cat-ear headbands, and even Victorian era dresses. Keiichi figured that this was where Mion had gotten the various outfits for him and the other club members to wear. But this room was not limited to the types of things that the club members had worn. There were other things in this place, things that worried Keiichi. BDSM toys, whips, funky leather clothing, and all other manners of ghastly stuff. Keiichi clenched his fist; he wanted to beat the man up for even showing a lady like Mion this stuff. Keiichi wondered how Mion was even associated with the creepy owner of this place.

Mion began speaking to the middle-aged man. "Thanks uncle but I don't think I'll need any of this stuff today." Keiichi sighed; he realized that he should've figured that this man was somehow related to Mion. The Sonozaki Family had their hand in all sorts of businesses, more than Keiichi could even begin to comprehend. Mion continued, "But did the thing I ordered happen to come in yet?"

Mion's uncle instantly comprehended what she was asking and moved towards the back of the room. He came back out carrying a box. "It just came in today, tailor-made to your specifications," said Mion's uncle. The man then opened the box revealing a maid outfit. However, this wasn't the standard French Maid outfit that Keiichi was already accustomed to wearing; this was a Country Maid outfit. It was the kind of outfit that would've been seen on Little Bo Peep. The outfit even came with a wide-brimmed hat with a ribbon encircling it. Keiichi was afraid, he was very afraid.

Mion began to laugh a little. "This is excellent! And just in time too," said Mion.

Her uncle began to join in the laughter. He then asked, "Is this for you or Keiichi-kun?" Her uncle's look freaked Keiichi out.

"Definitely Kei-chan," said Mion. Mion and her uncle then began laughing loudly and Keiichi once again felt very small.

Soon Mion and Keiichi were outside of the store. Mion's uncle waved them goodbye as they left and Keiichi was forced to carry the box with the Country Maid outfit. The outfit that he figured he would soon be forced to wear.

"Kei-chan, that's enough for today don't you think?" said Mion.

"Yeah, let's head back then Mion."

The pair walked back to the Angel Mort, where Keiichi had parked his bike. Keiichi looked around, he didn't see Mion's bike anywhere.

Keiichi asked her, "Hey Mion. Where's your bike?"

Mion put on a cheerful face as she told him, "It's hard to ride your bike when you're wearing a dress so I just walked here. And I've already told you, for this week you have to call me goddess."

"Oh." Keiichi wondered why she even wore that dress in the first place; it was an hour's length just biking to Okinomiya from Hinamizawa, walking would've taken much longer. He wondered why Mion sacrificed the use of a bike just to be able to wear a dress; he didn't think he ever even saw her wearing anything so feminine before. That kind of dress didn't seem to be Mion's style. He admitted to himself though, that he did think Mion looked especially pretty wearing that dress.

"Well goddess, I'll walk with you back to Hinamizawa," said Keiichi, smiling reassuringly at Mion.

Mion scoffed, "Ahaha. If you didn't, I would've forced you to anyway. Kei-chan, you're my slave remember?" Mion laughed and Keiichi couldn't help but join her. He handed her the box he was carrying as he began to walk his bike.

Honestly, Mion didn't need to ever force Keiichi to walk with her. Keiichi thought of how he really enjoyed walking with Mion and how he enjoyed her company. Embarrassed at his thoughts, he quickly added to his mind that he also enjoyed the company of the other club members.

The walk towards Hinamizawa took a long time. But Keiichi and Mion didn't seem to notice, they had fun during the walk. They talked together, they laughed together as best friends did, as Keiichi and Mion did. During this walk, there was no power struggle; neither one had forced the other to dress up in something humiliating as a result of a wager. It wasn't master and slave; it was a talk between best friends. But it soon began to get dark.

Mion was too engrossed in their conversation to take heed of her surroundings and she tripped on the root of a tree. "Oof!" she said as she rubbed her leg.

A look of worry was stretched out across Keiichi's face as he let go of his bike and moved towards Mion. "Are you all right goddess?" asked Keiichi worriedly.

"I don't know… I think I might have sprained my leg," said Mion as she groaned. To an astute outside observer, Mion's groaning would've sounded phony but Keiichi didn't notice. "Kei-chan, can you take a look?" said Mion as she began to give Keiichi a view of her leg underneath her dress.

The blood in Keiichi's body instantly rushed to his face, his face was completely red. "N-No! That's fine!" said Keiichi nervously, preempting Mion's attempt to have Keiichi look at her leg. "But right now we need to get back, and it doesn't look like you can walk."

"You're going to need to abandon your bike for now Kei-chan; you can pick it up later. I think you're going to have to carry me…" said Mion, she had a light blush and was unable to look at Keiichi directly.

Keiichi's face grew even redder, if that was even possible. But he considered himself a man; he would have to put aside his childish embarrassment. A lady was in distress and as a man he decided he'd have to do what was necessary. "…Can you climb onto my back?" he asked her awkwardly, very awkwardly.

Mion, still blushing, shook her head. "I need to carry this box still and it won't work…that way…" Keiichi knew where this was leading and he grew more embarrassed. "Kei-chan, you're going to have to carry me bridal style."

Keiichi moved towards her nervously. Seeing Mion like this appealed to every sensibility he had as a man. And now he was going to be able to carry her in such a romantic fashion. Part of him wanted to cry tears of joy, another part of him wanted to run far away, but the man in him made him do what was necessary and carry her. He carried her on his arms as she wrapped her right arm around his shoulders while carrying the box on her remaining arm. He wasn't very athletic and so she was a little difficult for him to carry but he would be able to handle it; after all, he considered himself a man. Keiichi and Mion were both blushing wildly. He asked her nervously, "H-how's this g-g-goddess?"

"It's…great." said Mion softly. "And please Kei-chan, don't call me goddess anymore. That's… boring now. Just Mion is fine." And with that she leaned her head against Keiichi's chest. They both blushed at this. It felt very warm to her and she wanted to stay in this position a little longer, even forever if possible. However, for Keiichi it felt very awkward and he felt that if he didn't start moving soon then they would all collapse. He started to walk towards the Sonozaki Estate until Mion stopped him.

"Wait, Kei-chan. Take me to Rika-chan's place. Its closer," said Mion. Keiichi agreed and made his way there with Mion in his arms.

Neither of the two spoke a word. They were both too shy about the whole affair; instead, they let themselves be distracted by the company of the other and the crying of the cicadas. For the two of them, it felt like an eternity, although the walk to Rika's place simply took a really long time. It was night when they had finally reached Rika's place.

Keiichi just stood in front of the door to Rika's house, Mion still in his arms. Neither of them moved to do anything. It was a minute until Mion finally dropped down from Keiichi's arms.

Mion was standing perfectly; her leg injury appeared to be completely healed. Keiichi looked at her curiously, still a little in awe at having carried Mion such a long distance. He was both surprised at his own strength as well as Mion's willingness to let him carry her. Mion didn't seem to be the kind of person to ever allow a man to carry her. Keiichi then noticed Mion fidget nervously, as though attempting to gather up courage for something. She then dropped the box she was carrying.

"Kei-chan…um… THANKS FOR TODAY!" Mion then kissed him on the cheek; she blushed wildly, surprised at what she had just done. In a mad rush, Mion opened the door to Rika's house, went inside, and closed it behind her. All the while, Keiichi just stood there, his face completely red.

Inside Rika's house stood a smiling Shion. It looked like she had been waiting for Mion.

"So Sis, how'd it go?" said Shion, looking at Mion happily.

Mion, whose face was now finally allowed to be completely red, replied. "I did it! I did it! I did it! I kissed Kei-chan!" Mion was really excited and Shion was really happy for her. Mion's arms started to swing wildly, her face was red, and she was still uttering on about how she had done it. Mion was acting a lot like either a maniac or a kid who had just won a candy store. But she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Knock knock Mion was afraid, she was afraid that it was Keiichi. She feared that Keiichi had overheard her excitement. She slowly turned the doorknob; on the other side of the door was none other than Keiichi. The excitement she had in her heart had since been replaced by sheer embarrassment.

"Um Mion… You forgot your costume…" said Keiichi; he was carrying the box containing the Country Maid outfit that Mion had forgotten outside after having kissed him. It was apparent on Keiichi's blushing face that he had indeed overheard Mion's excited words from outside the house.

Mion was beyond embarrassment, she quickly grabbed the box that Keiichi was carrying and slammed the door on his face. Mion then promptly dropped the box off inside and collapsed on a futon that was already on the ground.

"All right Shion. I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow…tomorrow…tomorrow…" Mion couldn't wait until she could hang out with Keiichi again tomorrow and wondered if anything would change after today's events. At the very least, he was still her slave.

Shion looked on at Mion's laying form. She was happy for her twin sister and was glad that everything had gone just as planned. Although she did wonder about the contents of the box; she did not recall Mion actually buying anything as part of the plan. Even though she was curious about the contents of the box, she decided it was better off not to look. Mion had weird interests after all. Shion sighed, envious that Mion and Keiichi were able to have such a cute relationship. The object of Shion's affections was still sick. The thought instantly reminded her of Satoko's current situation.

Upstairs was the sound of multiple simultaneous scratchings on a door. Rika, Hanyuu, and Satoko had been locked inside of a room.

"Au, au, auu. Let us out Shion," cried Hanyuu.

"And make us dinner! Keeping three young girls locked up in a room without food isn't right," said Satoko.

"Nipa" was all that Rika said.

Shion giggled at the three girls. Shion could be rather cruel sometimes but it was all in the name of love; although, Satoshi would not be happy if he learned of this later on. But Shion was doing this for her sister, sacrifices had to be made. "Sorry you three, I'm letting you out now," said Shion at last. And the three girls all let out a long exasperated sigh.

* * *

"...and then the prince touched with his lips the hand of the princess. The princess awakened and the two were then able to live happily ever after…" Shion was reading a story to a comatose blonde haired boy. He didn't look like he was in a coma though; he simply looked as though he was resting peacefully. This boy's name was Satoshi.

They were both in what appeared to be a hospital room. There were heart monitors and catheter bags, the room was white, and Satoshi was resting on a hospital bed. It looked like a standard hospital room, but it was located beneath the Irie Clinic. In previous days, this place harbored highly unethical and inhumane experiments that researched the parasite of Hinamizawa and it doubled as a communications center for a terrible conspiracy. But these days it was simply Hojo Satoshi's resting place.

Shion came to this place every morning and every night, essentially anytime that was available to her. She came here to read and give company to the sleeping Satoshi. She had already done this for a few months and she was willing to do this for however long it took until Satoshi woke up. She was in love with this blonde haired boy.

"Satoshi, I'm sorry but I couldn't find anything else to read for you." In Shion's hands was a heavily abridged version of _Sleeping Beauty_ that was clearly meant for young children. "I hope you aren't too embarrassed that I'm reading you a kids' story." Shion smiled at him.

"If only a kiss could wake people up like in these fairy tales. But you wouldn't mind if I tried it on you, would you Satoshi?" He didn't respond. She moved her face closer to his and brushed his hair away, she would need to remember to cut his hair later. She then kissed him on the cheek. He didn't respond to it at all but still Shion liked the feeling of it, it felt nice to her and he wasn't at all cold. Kissing him reminded her that he was still alive, that one day he would wake up. But she wondered how he'd feel about her violating him in such a way when he'd wake up.

"Aha. You know who else got a kiss on the cheek that they didn't want? Yeah, Kei-chan got one from Mion last night. I've been helping my sister try to confess to Kei-chan. I have to tell you, it's hard getting two stubborn people like them together. Sis still calls herself Oji-san, it's very unflattering. And Kei-chan's a clumsy guy, and twice as dense. But I think they're really beginning to hit it off. I wouldn't be surprised if they got married by the end of the week, which also happens to coincide with the end of his enslavement by Mion. Hehe… Mion sure has her quirks." Shion once again smiled at Satoshi's sleeping face; she held one of his hands and touched her heart. "Love is such a nice feeling isn't it Satoshi?"

Shion cupped Satoshi's hand in her own and rested her head on his bed. She then closed her eyes and rested for a bit. Being with Satoshi like this, she didn't think there could be a better feeling in the world. However, unknown to Shion, Satoshi's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.


	3. The Spy is Disguised as Keiichi

Chapter 2

It was bright. Very bright. Clapping sounds. A lot of clapping sounds. Underneath all of this was a man leaning against a car. He slowly opened his eyes. _What is this? Where am I?_ He slowly looked around, taking care to avoid the harsh glare of the sun while having to tolerate the obnoxious clapping sounds. The buildings around him all seemed so unfamiliar. That is until he noticed a particular building... _Angel Mort_, the cafe where a person he knew used to work... _Shion_... Then he remembered that this place was Okinomiya, a town not too far from Hinamizawa village where he had something to do... A hand on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm still amazed at how you're able to do this but I suppose they don't call you the Magician of Words for nothing!" The man who had just spoken looked somewhat familiar and an image of a man constantly with a corpulent white haired detective came up. This was Kuma-san, the partner of the corpulent detective named Oishi.

The man referred to as the Magician of Words finally took notice of what was around him. There were police cars and barricades everywhere and they were surrounding a rather unassuming building, and he himself was leaning against such a car. The clapping noises he heard as he woke up, they belonged to uniformed police officers that were clapping while looking at his direction, rather the applause was directed at him. Many of these police officers were even wearing what appeared to be anti-riot suits. _What is going on here?_ Then he saw a crying middle-aged man being escorted out of the surrounded building by several uniformed police officers. The crying man and police escorts were walking towards his direction, apparently taking the detained man to a police car. Then slowly the detained man looked up from his tears...

"K-Keiichi-san! T-thank y-you for sh-showing me the l-light. A-after I pay b-back my debt to s-society and get h-help, I swear as a man, I will help make this world a better place. Just like you." Even though the detained man said this beneath his own sobs, he had a very spirited look that made sure he would go through with his promise. _Just what the heck is going on?_ The escorted man was driven away from this place, presumably to the police station, while Keiichi watched the car go.

"Hmm... you don't look good at all Keiichi-kun," spoke Detective Kuma. "But of course that's understandable given how tense that situation was." Kuma thought Keiichi still looked...disoriented? Or perhaps he was a little worried. "I wouldn't worry about Mr. XX..." said Detective Kuma. Keiichi responded with an oblivious huh. Detective Kuma continued, "Fortunately Mr. XX didn't end up hurting anyone, a big part of which can be attributed to your efforts. And given the circumstances, he probably won't have to face prison time although he may need a lot of psychiatric help."

_What is this guy talking about? If only everyone here didn't just assume I was some key-player in all of this, then maybe they would give me more to work with. _Just then, Keiichi noticed his reflection on the window of a police car. This was definitely not a kid. He almost wasn't sure that this was Keiichi but this was undoubtedly him. The brown hair,the purple eyes, it was all there. But he wondered just how old this body was. _25_. He instinctively knew this body was 25 yearsof age. _Things don't look like they're going to be so easy this time..._

"Ah, Keiichi-kun. You really don't look so good; I should probably drive you home. The rest of the guys will clean things up here. And you can pick up your car some later time. There's no way I'm letting you drive home," said Kuma-san matter-of-factly and not devoid of a bit of self- righteousness as well.

_Damnit! I'd rather not have to get a lift from a cop. But I don't know how to get to Hinamizawa with a car. Discounting the fact that I don't even know where I parked or what my car is supposed to look like. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE! Hehe, guess I don't have a choice._

After Keiichi realized the lack of choice he had in the situation, he nodded slightly in agreement to Kuma's insistence. And with that, Keiichi was led to Kuma's car, an unlabeled car without the trademark police stripes and siren. Keiichi's gaze was left on the Angel Mort for a while until Kuma opened the car door leading Keiichi in. Then they were off to Hinamizawa.

* * *

"STOP!" shouted Keiichi suddenly. Kuma slammed the brakes, immediately putting the car to a stop.

"What is it?!" shouted Kuma worriedly. Having to stop the car immediately, Kuma thought the situation must have been dire. Perhaps he almost ran over an animal of some kind or worse yet, a child playing on the road. He didn't notice a bump nor did he see an animal or person around anywhere. What could've possibly prompted Keiichi to demand the immediate stop of the vehicle? Keiichi noticed Kuma's questioning look.

"Ahahaha," laughed Keiichi nervously. "Sorry about that, I just needed to stop by the trash dump," responded Keiichi to Kuma's question. Kuma looked around; indeed they were close to the abandoned dam construction site. This was the site of the first Hinamizawa murder many years ago. Currently it was primarily a trash dump where people left discarded belongings and things they didn't want to have found. For these reasons this place was seldom visited ever since the plans to build the dam was put on indefinite hold, except for one particular school club that used to hunt for treasure here.

Keiichi continued with his explanation, "There's something important I need to pick up here." Kuma thought this sounded rather suspicious, what could Keiichi possibly need to pick up at this dump... Then Kuma laughed.

"Haha yes. Keiichi-kun must have left something suspicious at this place," stated Kuma. Keiichi broke into a worried smile at Kuma's deduction. _Just what does he know?_

Seeing Keiichi's reaction, Kuma laughed some more. "Keiichi-kun, you really need to find another spot for your suspicious stuff." Keiichi's face still kept the worried looking smile. _What is he getting at?_ "Once a person's hiding spot has been found, it might be prudent to find another spot to hide stuff. After all, remember when Oishi-san and I caught you red-handed?" _Red-handed? What_ _was this guy caught doing? _"All the girls in your club were searching the dump for something you had apparently hidden away. Oishi-san and I even joined in, thinking you had buried a body or something. Haha, turns out it was just your collection of swimsuit magazines that your parents found and made you toss out. Oishi-san and I even ended up covering your shame to the girls." _That's it? Swimsuit magazines? Haha._ Keiichi joined Kuma's bout of laughter.

Kuma finished up laughing and said, "Well go ahead and get your dirty magazines or whatever, I'll stay here. That is unless you want me to come along?" Kuma chortled a bit at that.

"Definitely not," replied Keiichi bluntly. Kuma laughed a bit more while Keiichi left the car, making his way towards the site.

The abandoned construction site: a place of discarded belongings, forgotten memories, and terrible tragedies. This was a stage for such things, a frightening place and one of several in Hinamizawa. Even though it was bright and sunny, the piles of junk obscured a lot of the light throughout much of the site. A brown haired youth was busy sifting through the junk in this place, clearly looking for something. He moved aside what appeared to be the exhaust pipe of a car and behind it was a small unassuming box. _Finally, here it is. Haha, dirty magazines, as if._ _Now let's see what this Keiichi is about._

Keiichi opened the box, revealing what appeared to be a folded up fan with black handles that concealed the fan itself. He took the item out of the box and left the box on the ground. He made a sudden movement with his hand that held the item, flipping the handles open to reveal a knife. It was a balisong, otherwise known as a butterfly knife. The blade of the knife didn't look particularly sharp, the knife ran curved along one side and straight the other. However, the end of the knife was very sharp and it looked like it could puncture anything even if it couldn't cut much. Keiichi closed the knife and placed it into his pocket.

* * *

Keiichi entered Kuma's car. The sound of the car door closing woke Kuma from his daydreaming.

"Hmm? Back so soon? I suppose you knew exactly where you hid it and went straight there," said Kuma while keeping a friendly grin.

"Uh yeah, I got what I needed. We can go," responded Keiichi while he patted the contents of his pocket. Kuma wondered at what Keiichi picked up that was small enough to fit in his pocket, Kuma knew it definitely wasn't a dirty magazine and laughed a bit at the thought.

Kuma remained polite though and didn't ask Keiichi what he picked up seeing that Keiichi didn't bother to bring it up. Even though Kuma was a detective, he knew it was better to not pursue things that Keiichi would rather keep hidden. This aspect of Keiichi's was part of what made Keiichi so effective in police matters, that and his magic words of course.

Kuma drove while Keiichi looked out the side window of the car. It was still the earlier part of the afternoon and the sky was blue, blemished only by the occasional cloud. The sound of the car against the dirt road could be heard and it contrasted slightly with the serenity of the sky but it was still rather peaceful. The silence inside the car was a little awkward for Kuma, even given the earlier events of the day. After all, Keiichi was normally a very outgoing person; it wasn't like Keiichi to be this quiet no matter what happened. So Kuma began a conversation.

"You know, talking about Oishi before was very nostalgic," said Kuma. _What's the deal with this Kuma? Why is he acting so chummy with me?_ "Keiichi-kun, I don't know if you ever knew this but I think Oishi-san considered you the son he never had." _That old bastard? That doesn't make_ _any sense._ Kuma noticed Keiichi looking a little surprised. "Haha don't look so surprised. Oishi-san did rub off on you quite a bit, I mean, you consult with the police as a negotiator. Sure enough, you aren't actually with law enforcement but you still help the police out quite a bit regardless." _That doesn't sound fun at all actually, helping the police without the abusive power of the police? No thanks. _"So in that sense, he leaving you with his hard-earned pension makes a lot of sense.Since his mother passed away before him and since he himself passed away from his smoking habit, it makes sense that he left his "son" with hisbelongings." _What? The old bastard is dead? And he left this guy with his stuff? What a crazy place..._ "Besides, it also binds you to working with the police," Kuma laughed at that.

"Oishi-san was a good guy wasn't he?" said Keiichi respectfully although it was an act.

"Some might think he's overzealous but you know better than anyone that he was a good guy at heart." _Do I really? Tch._

The car passed by a rather large house. The house was unique from all of the other houses around, it was larger and it was definitely unique; the house looked as though an artist had a hand in designing it. _What the heck? Why are we going past the Maebara Manor? Damnit, where is this guy taking me?_

Kuma noticed the startled look on Keiichi's face as they passed by his house. "Hmm? Did you need to pick something up from your parents' house as well?" asked Kuma politely.

"Uh... no," said Keiichi. _I guess not... _Kuma simply shrugged, thinking nothing of Keiichi's sudden startlement.

The car continued on for a while in silence until it finally slowed down in front of a gate. The gate belonged to the Sonozaki Estate. _What's going on? Why are we stopping here?_

"Well here we are. I'll take care of the paperwork for that business with Mr. XX. You just relax all right?" said Kuma placing a hand on Keiichi's shoulder.

"Um sure. Well I'm off. Have a nice day Kuma-san," said Keiichi after leaving the car.

"One more thing!" said Kuma just before driving off. _What is it now?_ "I might be late a little for tomorrow thanks to the paperwork for today, but I'll make it don't worry." _What could you possibly have to do with me tomorrow? _"And say hello to your wife, Mion, for me and also congratulations on both counts." _Mion, my wife? Now that's a shocker._

"Sure thing," said Keiichi as he waved Mr. Kuma off. Keiichi waved until Kuma was out of sight. Kuma thought the length for which Keiichi waved was a little odd, as well as many of Keiichi's other mannerisms but Kuma attributed it to the stress of the earlier events of the day.

Keiichi sighed. "Now what do I do? Do I press the buzzer and oddly ask Mion to let me in, saying I forgot what the key code to open the gate was. Or...?" _8463, _he remembered_, that's the code._ He entered it into the buzzer and the gate slowly opened. This was the Sonozaki residence, just as he always knew it. The little stream running across the estate was still there as well as everything else. With no other choice, he made his way towards the main house and before he knew it he was at the front shoji screen door. This place was definitely an ancient, traditional Japanese home. _This is it..._ Keiichi was just about to place his hand on the handle when the screen door opened suddenly, surprising him.

"Ah Keiichi-kun, Rena's been waiting for you!" Standing in front of Keiichi was a cheerful red haired woman, clearly an adult Rena. _What the? What's she doing here? Don't tell me... this guy's been… CHEATING ON MION IN HER OWN HOME!?_

"Keiichi-kun? Are you surprised to see Rena here? Are you?" said Rena. _ Yes, very._ "Aha.

Mii-chan just had to go do an errand, so she called Rena over to take care of things." explained Rena. Keiichi felt relieved. _Phew, it's not as I thought. _ Rena suddenly appeared to realize something. _ What is it now?_ Rena then grabbed Keiichi by the wrist and ran straight to a room, with Keiichi in tow. _Damn, she's strong._

Before he knew it, they were in a room, full of stuffed animals and things that would be found in a baby's room. And to the side of such a room was a crib. Rena quickly tip-toed over to the crib: taking care not to make a sound. Keiichi slowly walked towards the crib, he felt like he was beginning to have an anxiety attack. He looked into the crib; inside it was a sleeping baby girl with short and messy green hair upon her head. It was a beautiful baby girl and the sight was just precious.

Rena looked over at Keiichi; she obviously thought the baby was cute as well. Smiling she began to speak in a whispered tone, "Hauuu!! I just want to take her home."

Keiichi felt his vision begin to blur and then he fainted. He simply blacked out and his head fell upon a stuffed panda.

It was blurry. Everything around him was a blurred sight. Slowly he began to make out some more definitive shapes. Keiichi put his head up, he touched the pillow that his head was resting on. It was...furry? He saw a large white shape, with black spots all over. _A panda?_

A female voice suddenly spoke up, "Teehee. Keiichi-kun? Are you awake I wonder? I wonder." It was Rena and she was smiling down on Keiichi. "This is just like at the hospital isn't it Keiichi-kun? Mii-chan was holding the baby and you just blacked out! Blacked out!" said Rena.

"Oops!" Rena then realized she was speaking too loudly and covered her mouth. She turned to look at the baby who was fortunately still asleep.

Keiichi began to groan, "Ugh... How long was I out?" he asked Rena. Rena immediately responded by shushing him with a mean look. _Scary!_ Keiichi again asked her how long he was out, this time in a hushed tone.

"Just five minutes," responded Rena sweetly.

"Ah I see. Thanks," said Keiichi. _What a situation I'm in... I need to… get out of this room!_ While Rena indulged herself in the cuteness of the baby, Keiichi slipped out of the room.

Keiichi walked throughout the residence, finally coming back to the main room. There was a portrait there, it was actually quite large and he was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. But of course, Rena suddenly dragging him away hadn't helped. The portrait was a wedding picture of him and Mion. It was, oddly enough, a Western-style ceremony; Mion was wearing a Western style wedding dress and Keiichi was wearing a suit. Mion looked beautiful and Keiichi looked handsome as well. It was particularly surprising for Keiichi to see Mion in something as feminine as a wedding dress, but it's not as though Mion could've worn her school uniform to the occasion. It was apparent to Keiichi that the entire event was a genuinely joyful occasion.

Surrounding Mion and Keiichi in the portrait was all of their family and friends, and some surprising characters as well. Mion's grandmother, Oryou-sama, was there; although, she still carried her frightening appearance, probably due to the fact that the wedding was Western-style. Sonozaki Oryou was very traditional after all. Even a smiling Oishi-san was there, although given the earlier conversation with Kuma, Keiichi wasn't too surprised. _But doesn't Oishi hold a grudge against the Sonozakis? Ha. This place is just f'ing perfect isn't it? But… _Keiichi's eyes lingered on the Shion in the wedding portrait. She was standing by Mion and was wearing a bridesmaid dress. Shion was carrying such a happy smile for the bride and groom.

Keiichi groaned and sat himself down on the floor, clutching his forehead with his palm. _This doesn't change anything. I still need to go through with it. It's all for the best anyway. I've done it so many times now, what difference would it make here? I'm so close… I can feel it. Besides, I've tried settling, it doesn't work. I want my own life!_

"…-chi-kun." _What?_ "Rena thinks you're a great dad. Don't worry, don't worry," said Rena. Apparently she was done looking at the baby and had seemingly snuck up on Keiichi. Rena was smiling at Keiichi; for anyone else, such a sight would've been comforting, but to Keiichi it was just a tad unnerving.

"It's nothing like that…" said Keiichi offhandedly. He took one last glance at the Shion in the wedding portrait and… _I've made up my mind! No going back._ "Rena!" She looked at him quizzically. "I need to talk to you about something important, do you mind going out back with me?" Rena looked at him curiously but she nodded and started moving towards the back of the house, towards the backyard with mountains for a view. Keiichi moved to follow her; reaching into his pocket, he clutched the closed handles of a certain object…

* * *

It was now the better part of the afternoon. The sun blanketed itself with the landscape causing an orange glow throughout the sky that always signaled the coming of night. The cry of the cicadas was in full force, and these cries would be maddening for anyone except the residents of Hinamizawa who had long since grown accustomed to the wailings of these creatures.

In such a stage a black robed woman was running towards the Sonozaki Estate. She was running at a velocity that seemed to be reserved for Olympic medalists. She had long green hair that was tied into a long ponytail and her attractive face was marred by an extremely worried look. This woman was Mion Sonozaki and her worry caused her to drop everything she was doing and rush straight to the Sonozaki Estate. She felt deep in her core that a couple of her dearest friends had just disappeared from the face of the Earth. Knowing everything she did, it would've been more foolish had she not acted on her worry and rushed straight to where it seemed her fears would either be alleviated or come true. This place was the Sonozaki Estate and she was doubly worried knowing her and Keiichi's child was there.

Before she knew it she was in front of the main room of the Sonozaki Estate and she could hear rustling inside, she wasted no time in pulling the screen door separating her and whatever evil lurked inside.

"Kei-chan! I was worried, I had a bad feeling and…" Then she noticed it, Keiichi's forehead was bandaged up. She was worried about him and she wondered at just what had occurred here. Whether or not Keiichi was all right, had the danger passed? All of these thoughts and more were running around Mion's worried mind in less than a second after she had noticed Keiichi's bandages. Just as she was about to ask him all of this, Keiichi stopped moving completely, save for his eyes that looked at her from the side. It was unnerving; something was definitely off about Keiichi. Then he began to speak.

"Sonozaki Keiichi negotiates peace between Konozuma and Sonozaki Families after tense hostage situation. Sonozaki and Konozuma Families work together to provide disaster relief in Shinibone City. Maebara Keiichi joins Sonozaki family through marriage with Heiress Sonozaki Mion. Magician of Words Keiichi gives talk at Alma Mater, University of Tokyo." Keiichi was nonchalantly reading headlines and text from various articles and newsletters.

All around Keiichi were newspaper clippings, newsletters, articles, pictures of the family at various occasions, even wedding photos of Keiichi and Mion. Currently he was holding an unfinished sketch of Mion. "Keiichi's a good artist…" he said, laced with sarcasm. He placed the sketch down on the floor and picked up a book called _Corruption in Shishibone City_ authored by Maebara Keiichi and a best seller. "…He's a good writer too, and a political activist and lawyer it looks like."

Mion knew at once that this was not Keiichi. Her fear up until this point had doubled instantly. Then she remembered Rena. "Where's Rena?! Who the hell are you?!" yelled Mion.

"I'm Keiichi, who else? As for Rena… she's out back, resting her eyes. Come on, let's go _wake_ her up," said Keiichi. Mion pushed Keiichi out of the way knocking him against the wall while she ran hurriedly outside, deep fear in her heart. Then Mion saw her. Rena was slumped against the house; she didn't appear to be breathing. Mion feared for the worst, but just as she was to check Rena's pulse Keiichi suddenly appeared behind Mion. His knife was headed straight for the back of her neck.

CHUK! The knife was blocked by the hilt of Mion's katana. Their eyes were locked, a heated battle had begun. Keiichi jumped backwards, putting space between him and Mion, taking the knife that had been stuck in Mion's hilt along with him. Keiichi smirked and began playing with the knife, performing tricks eponymous with the balisong. Then he began to speak.

"So… _Mion_. Is that sword of yours real or just a toy?" asked Keiichi, burning with sarcasm. Mion responded by pulling out a long katana from the hilt that had up until now remained fixed in the air. She relaxed the hand holding the hilt while her right hand held the katana. The katana was fixed straight on Keiichi.

"Tell me! What have you done to Rena!? Where's Keiichi?!" Mion's face was undoubtedly angry and the atmosphere had certainly gotten incredibly tense.

"I told you already. Rena's _resting._ And Keiichi is right here," said Keiichi pointing at himself. "And what's with the look? I thought we were just playing a game. In fact, let's make it a penalty game." Keiichi was smiling although this smile did not invoke the happy memories that Mion shared with Keiichi. This smile was dangerous.

Mion questioned in her mind just what the hell this guy was going on about, taking care not to loosen her stance or her position. Rena was lying slumped on the ground, possibly dead, and Mion's love was trying to kill her. What kind of game could this possibly be?

Keiichi lunged at her with his balisong fixed straight on her neck. Once again she blocked it with the hilt of her katana, this time causing the knife to glance off the hilt. Keiichi looked frustrated as he once again had to jump backwards to put distance between them. Any closer and a simple swing from that katana which glistened from the setting sun would've killed him. Keiichi seemed to regain his composure and once more opened his mouth to talk, smiling all the while.

"For this penalty game, if you win… you can have Keiichi back." Mion thought about what Keiichi had just said. It was obvious that Keiichi was not himself and this confirmed her suspicions that he was indeed possessed. "However, if I win then you have to… DIE!" Once more, Keiichi rushed in to stab Mion with his pitifully short knife. The balisong's shortness and simplicity contrasted heavily with Mion's katana.

Mion smacked the knife with her katana forcing Keiichi off to the side along with it, he refused to let go of it. Keiichi realized that Mion was genuinely skilled; her katana was able to hit only his knife. It would've definitely been easier to simply cut off Keiichi's entire arm but Mion had taken care to hit only his knife.

Mion remained precisely where she had been throughout the entire battle. Since the start of this entire fight, she had been fighting defensively. Never once did she make a move to attack Keiichi, instead only intercepting his attacks against her. The man fighting her, up until this point, had been her best friend. They were always together through thick and thin. The Magician of Words Keiichi performed miracles; he made her fall in love. She remembered their awkward first date, their first kiss, and when he proposed to her. She remembered when they got married, how protective of her he got when she was pregnant, when he fainted after seeing their child for the first time. She loved him, there was no way she could ever hurt him. And yet here was someone that looked like him trying to hurt her.

Even though Mion knew that this wasn't Keiichi, he looked just like him. Because he looked just like Keiichi, to intentionally hurt him would've been akin to wrenching out her own heart. She couldn't do it, she just couldn't do it. Mion barely had the heart to stand her ground against him.

At this point, Keiichi stopped all of his smirking, smiling, and general taunting. His look was very serious and he started to strafe around her with his knife pointing straight at her. "I've always had less-than-below-average athletic skills and even worse fighting skills." Mion looked at him unflinchingly. "But to make up for that, I studied a lot. _Mion_… I've studied you a lot too and that is why… I CAN'T LOSE!"

Mion couldn't take it anymore, at this rate either Keiichi would finally be able to break through her defenses or she'd be forced to kill him. She pleaded with him. "Kei-chan! Please come out. Fight! You need to fight!" Mion was pleading for the Keiichi she loved to come back, for it to all be a terrible nightmare that would end once Keiichi was back to normal. It didn't work, Keiichi remained emotionless.

Both Mion and Keiichi's eyes were locked onto each other, Mion's eyes were pleading while Keiichi's eyes were emotionless. Then the baby started crying. Mion tilted her head towards the sound of their child. She was worried; Keiichi had already shown the propensity to fight dirty. If Keiichi threatened or made a rush towards their child as a last resort from realizing that he couldn't win against Mion, then she would be forced to cut him down. She didn't want to choose between her love and her child, but Keiichi was no longer himself, she didn't have a choice. Still, she didn't want to do it even if she knew she had to.

Mion returned her eyes onto Keiichi, there was no way out. She had to be decisive, the Keiichi she knew would understand. In her mind and heart, she apologized to Keiichi, her eyes welled up in anticipation of the horrible thing she was about to have to do. Then something surprising happened. Keiichi dropped his knife and fell upon his knees; a look of horror replaced the emotionless look on his face.

"…Mion? What have I done…? I…" Keiichi looked sorrowful. It appeared that the realization of what he had recently done had horrified him. Mion relaxed her katana as she looked on Keiichi. She wondered if it was really over, if her Kei-chan had returned. It was too late when she noticed that Keiichi was clutching something with his right hand. Whether it was sand or just dirt, it didn't matter; soon it was on her eyes, causing her eyes to sting and her vision was now severely impaired.

Mion attempted to look past the pain, she raised her katana, but everything was a blur. Whether the blur was caused by the sand in her eyes or whether it was caused by her life flashing before her eyes, it didn't matter. The last thing she saw was a blurred vision of the bastard that had taken away her Kei-chan. The last thing she heard was a final taunt.

"It seems the goddess of victory has fallen in love with me."

* * *

Keiichi was sitting in the main room of the Sonozaki Estate. He was sitting on the floor sullenly, contemplating his next course of action. "Two down…" he whispered to himself. RING RING The telephone started ringing, interrupting Keiichi's train of thought. Keiichi picked it up curiously.

"…Hello?" asked Keiichi.

"Ah Kei-chan? It's Shion. Satoko, Rika, and I are going to be a little late in helping you and Mion prepare for your anniversary tomorrow. We'll be over in about half an hour so tell Sis not to worry. She's been such a worry-wart lately you know? Ahaha," said Shion through the other end of the telephone.

"Ahaha. Then please, hurry. Mion misses you guys," said Keiichi cheerfully.

"Sis? Yeah, right. Ahaha." And with that Shion hung up her end of the phone, leaving Keiichi with the buzzing sound of a telephone with no one on the other end.

"…Four to go."


	4. And that's why

A/N: Keiichi's parents will be based off of the manga versions and not the faceless Charlie Brown adults seen in the anime. Special thanks to japaneserockergirl, Blood Avenger, SangoMirokuRule, and TheHyperZombie for reviewing

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

The light of morning had now spread out across the room. The rays of light were now shining on the face of a young green haired woman. Sonozaki Mion was her name and the pesky rays of light that signaled the start of a new day had woken her up. She was still tired and so she only slowly let herself get up. But after barely letting her eyes open, Mion saw that everything around her still retained a dream-like quality typical of fatigue, undoubtedly because she had so much fun with Keiichi yesterday. She decided she'd need every bit of rest before she could continue ordering him around. For now, Mion decided she would continue her sleep and after that she would have some more fun with Keiichi. She couldn't let Keiichi catch her in a tired state after all; what kind of master would she be if she let her slave see her in such a state? And so, Mion once again closed her eyes, this time shielding her face from the sun with the covers of her futon.

But then she heard the shoji screen door open. But Mion could've sworn that Rika's house didn't have such a thing, the main house did, but the house they were currently staying in was a modern house with normal doors. But these were details; Mion wouldn't let them disturb her beauty sleep. It was probably just Shion leaving to go see Satoshi or the three youngest club members doing something or other. And so Mion continued shutting her eyes.

"Tch, Mion. You really need to stop sleeping in, but I suppose it can't be helped." The voice belonged to a male and Mion recognized it as Keiichi's. Mion was surprised; she wondered how a chicken like Keiichi possibly had the balls to disturb his master. Mion wondered why he even came looking for trouble; if she was his slave then she would've done her best to avoid him, not wake him up so that she could be ordered around at the start of the day. But then she realized that he was probably just a glutton for punishment; after all, he continued to play the club's penalty games even though he lost almost every time. In that case, she would make sure he'd wear the country maid outfit she just bought while he'd feed her breakfast. But then her covers were instantly pulled back and her head was placed on something warm.

"What the hell Kei-chan?! Oji-san needs beauty sleep!" said Mion, angry that her rest had been disturbed and by her own slave no less. But just after her eyes had shot angrily open, they were soon calmed down by Keiichi looking down at her. He was smiling and Mion just couldn't stay angry. And then she noticed that he was wearing the country maid outfit she bought yesterday and that her head was resting on his lap. She was surprised, Keiichi was taking his role as slave quite seriously it seemed. Now all he needed to do was feed her breakfast and what she intended for him would be complete. Just as Mion finished the thought, Keiichi put a spoon in her mouth which was still open from her initial surprise. Inside the spoon was soup, breakfast it seemed, and Keiichi was feeding it to her. Keiichi was being such a wonderful slave and Mion felt complete bliss as she began to let her eyes drift off into this blissful dream.

"Hey Mion, don't fall asleep on my lap! It's a real pain getting you off of it," said Keiichi with mock annoyance. "Besides, I have to finish feeding you." Keiichi smiled as he moved his hand to feed her another spoonful of the soup.

"Sorry Kei-chan, I'm awake now," said Mion as she began rubbing her eyes with her left hand. But then she noticed it, on her left ring finger was a diamond ring. It was clearly a wedding ring. Mion was completely flabbergasted. She looked at the ring intently, confusion spread out across her face.

"Is something wrong Mion?" asked Keiichi.

Mion was shocked. Keiichi didn't seem surprised at all; clearly he had noticed her holding out her ring, Mion wondered why he didn't comment on it. Then she noticed Keiichi's left ring finger as his left hand moved to feed her another spoonful of soup. On it was a silver wedding band. Mion could think of only one logical conclusion from this, although it still didn't make much sense. She and Keiichi were now married and to each other. Mion began looking around the room; this room didn't belong to Rika's house, this was her room in the Sonozaki Estate. And not only that, but next to her futon lay another futon, presumably belonging to Keiichi.

Mion felt her head spinning. Just yesterday she had just finished acting out Shion's crazy plan, which ended in Mion kissing Keiichi on the cheek. Yet now, she was sharing a room with Keiichi and wedding rings had appeared on both their fingers out of nowhere? Mion could think of only one explanation, she had somehow been teleported to the future where Keiichi and she were married. She wondered if there were any other surprises, if she and Keiichi had a kid yet. Mion decided that there was a simple enough way to obtain all the answers she needed, she'd just ask Keiichi. Obviously Keiichi was the same person she always knew; he was just a little older.

"Kei-chan? What year is it?" asked Mion.

Keiichi looked confused, clearly he was wondering why Mion had asked such a bizarre question but he decided to answer her. "It's 1987 and also our 4 year anniversary. Happy Anniversary." Keiichi smiled at her warmly, he was playing along with Mion, thinking Mion's confused state to be some kind of joke.

Mion kept a confused look. She was obviously surprised that Keiichi and she were married but she did not realize it was as long as four years. In fact, that means that she and Keiichi had been married not long after the date she remembered as being yesterday. Mion had become really curious about just when exactly did she and Keiichi get married.

"Kei-chan? How did you and this old man get to be together like this?" asked Mion curiously.

Keiichi continued looking at Mion warmly, it looked like he was going to continue playing Mion's game. "Hmm… Let's see, you told me to marry you on my last day as your slave and I had no choice. We were married not long after and I've been bound to you ever since." Keiichi started to chuckle a bit, seemingly taking amusement at the circumstances of their marriage. "Pretty devious of you Mion. Making me your slave for the rest of our lives. But… aha… I don't mind."

Mion was once again at a loss for words. Could being with Keiichi really have been that simple? Did the Mion of the past really force him to marry her? Mion inwardly applauded the past Mion's extreme course of action and now that she was in the future, she could reap the benefits. Mion was glad that she would be able to have fun with Keiichi for the rest of their lives. Mion felt truly at bliss and so she turned her body around to bury her face in Keiichi's country maid outfit covered lap. But then she realized that she was half-naked, she was wearing nothing but a bra and panties. She quickly grabbed her covers, a huge blush on her face, she did her best to conceal her body but more importantly her tattooed back.

Mion didn't mind what was on her back but she feared that Keiichi would find it hideous. Her tattoos as the heir to the Sonozaki Estate had been a part of her but they were indeed rather unpleasant to look at. Mion didn't make it a habit to show off her back nor did she look at it often in the mirror. Mion didn't mind her tattoos but they were demon tattoos and people didn't like to see demons looking back at them. Mion was afraid that Keiichi also found them unpleasant.

"Kei-chan? Do you think my back is hideous?" asked Mion, she was a little afraid to hear his answer. Four years of married life with Keiichi had been skipped for her, and so she didn't know what Keiichi thought of them.

Keiichi looked at her quizzically. "I don't understand what you mean Mion." And then he laughed, obviously having thought up something witty. "I didn't mind them last night did I?"

Mion felt relieved, but then she blushed. Keiichi had said something suggestive and Mion had an inkling of what he was talking about. But she once again felt relieved and once again buried her face in his lap. Mion felt that it was truly blissful being here with Keiichi like this. They were now soul-mates and it looked like she no longer had to be afraid of losing her tomboyish façade in front of him. Keiichi wondered at Mion's strange behavior, her weird questions, and the like, but he began to stroke the back of her messy head. Mion was really enjoying this; bliss and joy were filling up her heart. Mion was different from other girls as a kid; instead of dreaming about being married and girly things like that, she preferred being just a kid. Mion's test scores were proof enough of that. But if this was what married life was like, then Mion was really glad she had gotten married. If this were a dream, she didn't want it to end. But then, Mion heard an ominous crash outside her room and she bolted upwards, her eyes meeting Keiichi's. He looked worried.

"What the heck was that Kei-chan?" asked Mion, feeling anxious.

Keiichi looked at her seriously and said, "…ninjas." Keiichi, seeing Mion's incredulous look, began to elaborate. "They're ninjas from the Konozuma family and they've come to kill us." But then Keiichi tossed her a badass smile. "But we're ready for them, aren't we Mion?"

Keiichi moved towards a cabinet at the edge of the room and opened it, revealing a cache of automatic weapons and… sports equipment. Keiichi tossed Mion two Luger pistols and took for himself a 9-iron golf club. Mion looked at the dual semi-automatic pistols questioningly.

"Kei-chan, what am I supposed to do with these?" asked Mion.

"Kick ass Mion, what else?" Any worry that Mion could've possibly had was all relieved by Keiichi's badass smile.

As the first ninja jumped through the shoji screen door of her room, Mion couldn't help but feel extremely excited. Mion felt the most fun she had ever had in her life and it was with the love of her life, Keiichi. This place that Mion was in now, she felt it was complete and utter bliss. But then she woke up.

Mion's eyes began to open. "Was that really just a dream?" said Mion groggily, still not fully integrated with reality. She looked around; it was definitely Rika's house. This was the place she remembered falling asleep in and it looked like Rika, Satoko, and Hanyuu had also decided to sleep here. Their futons and tiny little bodies were all spread out around her; it was like a girls' only slumber party. A nice slumber party she happened to miss out on due to the excitement of the previous night involving her giving Keiichi a kiss.

Mion wondered about how Keiichi felt about that kiss. If her dream was any indication then that must've meant that he liked it. That is assuming the dream was prophetic in any way, although the incorporation of ninjas into her dream cast some serious doubts on its prophetic nature. Mion's dreams tended to involve a few things: her embarrassing Keiichi, her confessing to Keiichi or some other romantic variant, or her fighting some manner of ninjas/pirates/aliens/underground mole people. The dream she just had fulfilled all of the above criteria. Mion sighed; disappointed both at how she had to wake up from such an awesome dream, and that the dream was probably not in any way prophetic.

Looking at her current state, Mion couldn't help but laugh a little. Here she was, Leader of the Six Members of the Rampaging Squad of Hinamizawa and heir of the Sonozaki Estate, unable to get over her love of a slave, _her_ slave. Her feminine side had seemingly busted through without her knowing, all thanks to the presence of a certain brown haired slave; the underhanded influence of her evil twin sister didn't help either. At this rate she would soon turn into a clone of Shion; albeit cooler and nicer, or so Mion would like to think. Mion attempted to push these thoughts away as she decided to return back to sleep. Hopefully, she would return to that amazing dream…

A few minutes passed by, Mion was now wide awake. Her thoughts would not allow her to sleep. The excitement she felt over the dream and her anxiousness regarding what she'd do with Keiichi later today kept her wide awake. If she had to get up early for school or work then this would've been perfect, unfortunately it was still the early morning and no one else would be awake and neither should she. Mion cursed herself, she was still thinking too much. She would never be able to go back to sleep at this rate but it's not like she could do anything at 3 AM, what with everyone else still asleep. But then she remembered that Keiichi was her slave. She could force him to wake up and hang out with her; she figured they'd have tons of fun this early in the morning. Clearly Mion's mind was dissonant with reality but Keiichi was her slave, what she said was undeniable.

Mion got up and started tip-toeing around the other club members but then she noticed an empty futon. It belonged to Shion and it seemed that Shion had left early to visit Satoshi. If Shion was able to go to such lengths for her love then Mion would have to do the same for hers. Whether Mion was going to such lengths _for_ or _to_ her love was debatable.

As Mion continued to tip-toe around the house, she realized that she was still wearing the dress from the day before. Unfortunately she was at Rika's place so she couldn't easily get to her grandmother's house for a change of clothes. But then she remembered that Shion often stayed here to take care of Satoko who had become like a little sister to her, partially due to Satoshi's final request before he disappeared. So of course Shion would have some clothes of hers somewhere here. Mion and Shion were twins and so wearing each others' clothes wouldn't be a problem, except of course for the potential confusion caused by an inability to distinguish between the Sonozaki sisters. And such incidents often occurred; one even caused a permanent name switch between the two sisters. Regardless of all that, Mion realized she needed a change of clothes and Shion would be the only person that could provide, willingly or not.

It didn't look like Mion would need to steal Shion's clothes. On a couch laid a neatly folded up change of clothes for Mion. Mion wondered if Shion had somehow anticipated her actions and so left her a change of clothes. Mion silently thanked her sister, the two could often anticipate the thoughts of the other and it often ended up well for them both. Right now was one such case. Unfortunately, the clothes laid out for Mion were obviously Shion's clothes. They were feminine beyond belief; a short skirt completed the ensemble. Normally Mion wouldn't have been caught dead in such feminine clothes, current dress notwithstanding. But because of her current dress, she had no choice. She figured it wouldn't be too much of a problem as long as she kept her signature ponytail. And with that, Mion changed into the new set of clothes and walked out into the cover of the morning darkness, leaving the three youngest club members in their slumber.

Keiichi was sleeping soundly in his room. After such a long day yesterday, a day that involved taking Mion to so many places and even involved carrying her, Keiichi deserved his rest. He had only completed a single day of the week in which he was to be Mion's slave and he was already dead tired. Keiichi would need his energy to be able to endure Mion's tyranny. Unfortunately for him, the green haired demon named Sonozaki Mion wouldn't grant him even that.

Keiichi's eyes started to flicker open. He thought he heard something, like someone was tapping on his window. He attempted to ignore it as he began to shut his eyes once more, it was still too early in the morning and he was still sleepy. The tapping sounds continued, but Keiichi attempted to block out the noise by covering his head with his covers. His brow began to furrow in annoyance as the sounds still continued, robbing him of his precious sleep. And then he heard a huge thud against his window. That was it, Keiichi was beyond annoyed now; he immediately got up and moved quickly to his window. Keiichi was now fuming. He opened the window and prepared to shout at the disturbance.

"WHAT THE HE--!" Keiichi's exclamation of anger had been cut short by a rock hitting him square in the forehead. He moved his eyes toward the source of the flying projectile and saw a green haired young woman. Keiichi instantly recognized the girl as Mion; although he noticed that she was wearing odd clothes, for Mion at least. Keiichi recognized the clothes on her as belonging to Shion and wondered at the circumstances of it. Many other people would've probably thought that the person currently standing in front of Keiichi's house was Shion, due to the clothes, but Keiichi knew for a certainty that it was Mion. He knew her better than the back of his hand, although he didn't know why she was here this early in the morning. The sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Mion, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" said Keiichi in a hushed tone, taking care not to wake up his parents.

Mion felt relieved. She was so glad that Keiichi had recognized her as Mion and not accidentally think she was Shion. She couldn't help but think about how sad she would've been had Keiichi mistaken her for Shion. But that wasn't a problem, he recognized her even while she was wearing Shion's clothes. Mion could begin to feel her heart flutter but then she remembered that Keiichi was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

Mion started rubbing the back of her hair. "Ahaha. Sorry Kei-chan, I was bored. Let's go do something fun." She grinned at him widely.

Keiichi looked at her surprised. He had begun to guess that Mion was here this early because something important had happened, but he became annoyed when he heard Mion's answer. She had woken him up at 3:30 AM because she was bored. Keiichi was still dead tired, he needed to rest.

"Forget it Mion. The sun isn't even up yet, I'm going back to sleep. See ya," said Keiichi as he began to turn around and head back to his futon. But then he was struck with another rock in the face.

Mion was shaking her index finger at him. "Nuh uh, _Kei-chan_. Remember the deal? You're my slave for a whole week and if I want to be entertained at 3:30 AM then you'll just have to go along with it. Besides, you wouldn't want to be known as someone who goes back on their promises now would you?" Mion then tossed him a wink.

Keiichi groaned as he smacked his forehead. He realized that he had no choice in the matter lest he be labeled as someone who reneges on his promises.

"Can I at least take a shower before I meet out with you?" asked Keiichi. Mion's answer came in the form of another rock to the head. Mion clearly wasn't letting Keiichi take a shower. "Fine then, I'll meet you in five minutes. Just let me get ready." Keiichi sighed, wondering just where the shy Mion from yesterday had gone.

Before long, Keiichi was outside his house and face to face with his tyrant overlord. He let out a huge yawn, clearly still fatigued, as he asked her, "So what are we going to do Mion?"

Mion looked as though she was deep in thought for a moment until she finally replied, "No clue." Her face was wearing a smile.

Keiichi's jaw dropped. His mind raced with questions and emotions, foremost among them being anger. "WHAT!? You woke me up for no good reason and you don't even know what you want to do?!"

Mion looked back at him with puppy-dog eyes and said, "I just wanted to spend some time with you..." This was the moe factor and Keiichi's anger was instantly alleviated. It appeared as though Mion had begun to master it as an art form, knowing full well that it was one of Keiichi's greatest weaknesses. Mion didn't spend months with Keiichi to not know her rival's one weakness, after all. Although Mion realized that Keiichi was definitely weak against other things such as Satoko's traps, luck based board games, and strenuous physical activity; Keiichi's biggest weakness was the moe factor. She recalled Rena employing it against Keiichi in a game of tag but she wasn't too sure, it seemed like a long time ago and she wasn't sure if she just dreamt it. Regardless, Mion was now using it against Keiichi and it had worked to great effect.

Keiichi cursed his weak knees that were unable to hold his weight when faced against such a display. Keiichi sighed; it looked like he had to relent to Mion's superior resolve. She was serious about winning everything and it was for that reason that he was now her slave. He had to be serious too if he ever hoped to win against Mion, and he decided that he would begin being serious starting now.

Keiichi straightened himself out and hit himself on the chest. "All right! If you don't have any idea then we could go treasure hunting. That could be fun!"

Mion smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. "Now you're talking Kei-chan! We should go to the abandoned construction site; there may be tons of great stuff there now. But of course, Kei-chan has to carry everything!"

Keiichi smiled back at her but he still lamented his enslavement, something that Mion wouldn't allow him to forget. As Mion and Keiichi made their way to the site, Keiichi dreamt about the day when he would get his revenge. That day would be especially fun but he had to admit, being with Mion now was pretty fun too.

* * *

"Ugh Mion! How long do we have to look for treasure in this dump? We haven't found anything yet and we've been looking for hours!" Keiichi was now bemoaning the fact that he had ever suggested that they go treasure hunting. This abandoned construction site was just full of garbage, and anything that even looked remotely interesting was buried underneath tons of heavy stuff. How Rena ever found anything cute here was beyond Keiichi's level of comprehension, but he suspected that it probably had something to do with her 'takeithome' mode.

"You're too noisy Kei-chan! You'll scare away all of the treasure," shouted Mion from fifty yards away. She was busy sifting through all of the trash in an attempt to find something interesting.

"I won't even try to make sense of that!" shouted back Keiichi. But he muttered to himself an addendum, "I'm noisy? Look who's talking…" Keiichi's playful banter with Mion was the only thing that could've been perceived as remotely fun here. Aside from that, Keiichi was tired of looking for something that may not even exist. He was tired, period. It was Sunday, he should've been allowed to sleep in to his heart's content but that demon Mion had forced him up. Looking for treasure in this dump was like looking for a needle in a haystack; except he wasn't even sure the needle existed. Thinking about needles in this place gave Keiichi a shiver; he figured that it would be just his luck that, while searching for treasure in this dump, he'd stick his hand inside a container of used syringes.

The thought of all those dirty needles puncturing him sent a shiver to his spine. However, Keiichi soon entertained the notion that, while he was screaming in pain from his bleeding arm, Mion would come over in extreme worry. She'd tearfully apologize for having insisted that he look for treasure for so long in this place. Keiichi couldn't contain his glee when thinking about this revenge on his overlord. Mion, after apologizing for making him stay in this accursed place, would then apologize for having enslaved him in the first place, she would beg for forgiveness! In Keiichi's mind, this would've been the perfect revenge. But his mind continued on with the odd little fantasy; after Mion would finish begging him for forgiveness, and only after he'd _gracefully_ pardoned her, she would attempt to soothe his pain. She would carefully put her delicate hands on the back of his head and lightly move his head towards her chest, finally placing it on her bosom. Then she would whisper sweet nothings into his ear…

Keiichi realized he was drooling and cursed his imaginative mind. It was this very imagination that was such a liability for him when playing for stakes against the other club members. It wasn't only once that the club members would place fantasies in his mind, fantasies of them in maid outfits as they fanned him and gave him drinks, only to take it all away, leaving him in a French maid outfit while wearing genuine women's panties. Keiichi silently cursed the entire club; they were truly a force to be reckoned with. And Keiichi had even been recently put into slavery under such circumstances; the fantasy that time involved a moe Mion. Keiichi continued to lament being unable to see a moe Mion; but then he thought of the Mion from yesterday and realized that she was pretty similar to the Mion he wanted to see more of…

Keiichi's mind prevented him from thinking more of Mion as it once again flashed him an image of needles. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had a bad experience with one before, and he was surprised to feel his mouth wince as his thoughts lingered on it. Keiichi wondered at the odd reaction that his mouth had to the thought of needles; he didn't recall placing one into his mouth as a child, after all.

"Hmm Kei-chan? Did you find something interesting over here? You just suddenly stopped complaining." Mion was now directly behind him, her shadow covering his squatting body. She was looking at him curiously.

Keiichi looked back at her embarrassingly. "Ahaha. Nope, didn't find anything at all. Just sitting here… thinking about stuff."

Mion glared at him. "Oh is that so? So you're lazing about then, huh Kei-chan? This old man doesn't like slackers. Get back to work!" She smiled as she forcefully slapped him on the back.

The impact of the slap forced Keiichi's back to arch upwards, placing his eyes directly up into the sky. It had gotten a little brighter but it was still clearly the early morning, probably about 5 AM or so. As Keiichi began to relax his body again, his eyes fell upon something interesting that he hadn't noticed before. It was a small, unassuming box… but that wasn't what interested Keiichi. Next to the box hid a cute little bear key-chain. He dug it out of its hiding place and held it up to Mion.

"This is cute isn't it Mion? It's perfect for Rena, don't you think?" said Keiichi absentmindedly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's perfect for Rena." Mion forced a smile but she had hoped that Keiichi would've offered it to her; she was with him right now and she thought that she had revealed enough of her inner self to him. But she knew that she hadn't, if she had then Keiichi would've offered the bear to her. She didn't even care about the bear at all; she just wanted a little gift from Keiichi. She was hoping that they'd be able to find gifts for each other here; she was excited about the prospect of it. But Keiichi had absentmindedly suggested that the bear be given to Rena, who wasn't even here. Mion was disappointed and blamed herself for not having shown enough of her inner self to Keiichi.

Keiichi noticed her disappointed look, she was still smiling but he knew she felt hurt. Keiichi inwardly cursed himself; it was obvious to him now that Mion had wanted the bear key-chain. Keiichi also couldn't help but feel that something like this had happened before and that Mion became really depressed because of it. Once more, Keiichi cursed himself. He couldn't remember the details of the previous incident but he knew for a fact that he had hurt Mion _now_. He couldn't very well offer the bear to Mion, it was too late. He had to find something else, anything else, and immediately. Keiichi remembered the small and unassuming box; he quickly turned around and grabbed it. He opened it and prayed that something was inside, anything that he could give to Mion. He found what looked like a fan sitting inside the box.

Keiichi stared at it for a split second. He was surprised, this was a butterfly knife. He remembered researching it back when he was a different person, back when he was angry. These weapons were illegal in Japan and many other countries; Keiichi wondered why then was it lying around in an abandoned construction site. Keiichi figured that someone had probably bought one from the black market, thinking it was cool, and decided to throw it away after police began searching his house for an unrelated reason. Either way, this butterfly knife was definitely something interesting. Keiichi wondered if he could give it to Mion and whether or not she would like it. Keiichi then thought about that air soft gun she often wore, Keiichi figured that she probably liked dangerous toys. She looked disappointed right now, so anything was better than nothing. He decided to give this to her, as a gift.

"Hey Mion! I found something pretty cool. You can have it." Keiichi forced the box into her hands, he began to look pretty excited, increasingly sure that Mion would like it.

Mion looked at the box curiously as she opened it. Mion saw a fan but as she opened the handles, a blade was revealed instead of paper. Mion was surprised that Keiichi decided to give her this. She thought it was actually pretty cool, and Keiichi had given it to her. Maybe Keiichi didn't perceive Mion as a girl, but at least he was a little sensitive of her feelings to give her this. Because it was from Keiichi, Mion decided to love it. And seeing Keiichi's excited look as she began to smile thankfully, she felt really happy as well.

"T-Thanks a lot Kei-chan. I love it!" said Mion gratefully.

"Thank goodness! I knew you'd like it." Keiichi was now ecstatic, he was really glad to have been able to give Mion something, and for her to love it as well made him feel great. "But um… it's kind of illegal to possess," said Keiichi, he was now rubbing the back of his head and his eyes were directed towards the ground.

Mion saw that Keiichi was afraid that something like that would ruin the gift. It didn't. "That won't be a problem Kei-chan. After all, I'm the heiress of the Sonozaki Family. I'm expected to keep shady things like this." Keiichi felt relieved and Mion, seeing this, smiled at him. He looked really cute just then. Mion blushed at the thought, she was really glad that they had come here. Not only did they get to spend time together, Keiichi also ended up giving her a gift.

"All right, I'm glad Mion. So can we go now? I'm feeling kind of hungry…" said Keiichi as he began to rub his stomach. "Wait! I have a great idea. We can eat breakfast at my house. My mom makes the best food around." Keiichi was once again ecstatic that he had thought of another great idea.

Mion was a little disappointed that she hadn't found a gift for Keiichi here, but seeing that he was so excited to eat breakfast with her, she couldn't help but agree to his idea. "That sounds like a great idea Kei-chan! Let's go! After all, a master should know how her slave eats."

Keiichi nodded at her cheerfully, their next course of action had been set and it wouldn't involve manual labor. As the master and slave pair began to walk back to the Maebara Manor, Mion took another look at the box containing the fancy knife. She felt as though something was off about the knife but she immediately dismissed it. It was a gift from Keiichi, she would treasure it.

* * *

After Keiichi and Mion had finally returned to the Maebara Manor, the sky had become a dull light-blue color, a color that characterized the early morning when the roosters would begin to crow and people would start to make breakfast. Just as Keiichi was about to open the door to his house, the door instantly flung open, knocking Keiichi onto his bottom. Mion moved to help Keiichi back up. However, standing in the doorway was none other than Keiichi's father.

"My only son! We were so worried. Your mother and I had wondered where you went in the wee hours of the morning. We thought something may have happened to you." The man was shedding a stream of false tears; he was putting on a very dramatic act, feigning deep worry for his son.

Mion had never seen Keiichi's father up close before. From where she was standing, it was quite apparent to her that Keiichi's dad was one of those eccentric artist types. The man had a goatee and wore long bangs in his hair. To top off his look as a stereotypically eccentric artist, Keiichi's father even sported a renaissance style painter's hat, as well as a smoking pipe that wasn't even filled. Mion had never seen Keiichi's father so up close before. From afar, Keiichi's father had a mysterious aura about him, but up close he was simply a flamboyant artist that seemed more like Keiichi's brother than his father. Her preconceived notions of Keiichi's dad were instantly shattered. Keiichi's father definitely looked like his son, however, just a lot more eccentric in his manner of dress. Mion suddenly remembered her manners and began to greet Keiichi's father while Keiichi was still on the ground.

"Ah-ha. Pleased to meet you Mr. Maebara. I'm Sonozaki Mion, Keiichi's friend from school," said Mion politely as she bowed repeatedly, still a little in awe from the senior Maebara's flamboyant display.

Keiichi's father pretended to only just notice Mion. "Oh! Pleased to meet you young lady, I am Maebara Ichirou. As you've no doubt guessed, I am Keiichi-kun's father." Keiichi was embarrassed by his father; it was obvious that he was putting on an act for Mion. Keiichi's dad continued, "Oh! I see how it is now Keiichi-kun; you were sneaking off with Mion here, weren't you?" The senior Maebara tossed Keiichi a thumbs-up and a knowing wink.

Keiichi smacked his forehead; he had never expected his father to act this insane, if Keiichi had known then he would've never invited Mion here. "…it's nothing like that Dad," said Keiichi in an attempt to explain the real situation between him and Mion.

The senior Maebara once again let loose a stream of false tears. "My son has grown so far apart from me! He no longer tells his father anything!" But just as quickly as those tears flowed, they instantly stopped. "Oh well. Just tell me about it later Keiichi-kun. I've needed some artistic inspiration and what could be more inspiring than the love between two young people? To see the impression of my son as he relays to me the story of his first love… I will need to paint it!"

Keiichi wasn't even given a chance to get up from the ground. His father had to continue sending him increasingly embarrassing displays of overdramatic fatherly love, coupled with an flamboyant flair. Keiichi couldn't even begin to imagine what Mion was thinking of all this. From where Keiichi was sitting, all he saw was Mion smiling awkwardly. It seemed that everything about Keiichi's family had begun to be unraveled. His embarrassing father had left his cage and humiliated them both in front of Mion. Keiichi imagined Mion as thinking something along the lines of, 'Now it all makes sense.' Keiichi hung his head in shame until he noticed a hand help him up, it was Mion.

Keiichi made eye contact with Mion; she looked at him sincerely as she smiled. It didn't seem as though she was too unhinged by his dad's display. But then his dad put his hand on Mion's shoulder and walked her into the house, leaving Keiichi standing there.

"Come in, come in Mion-san. It's rather cold out here and my wife makes the best food around. I'm both an artist and a gourmet so I would know." Keiichi looked on as his dad and Mion went into the house and then suddenly his dad kicked the door closed. Keiichi looked in awe at the fact that his dad had seemingly forgotten all about him. As Keiichi began to walk to the house, he thought about what an event breakfast would be today.

"Damn it Dad," said Keiichi.

While inside, Mion looked on in awe at the inside of the Maebara Manor. For a house that was often labeled as a mansion by other residents of Hinamizawa, the actual inside was not bigger than any other house. It seemed like half of the house had disappeared when she went inside of it. Mion knew that she lived in a house that was much bigger than any other in Hinamizawa so her perception of house sizes may have been colored, but she never expected the Maebara _Mansion_ to be this tiny. She remembered when Keiichi had adamantly defended against the wealth of his family, and from the looks of the inside of the house, he appeared to be right. But Maebara Ichirou was a famous artist; Mion wondered where all of Keiichi's father's money could've gone. But upon looking at the gay looking man, she figured that he probably spent it all on entertainment and fine dining. Mion's thoughts were at once interrupted by a pleasant smell coming from the kitchen.

A pretty looking middle-aged woman began to walk out from the source of that smell; it was apparently Keiichi's mother. "Keiichi-kun, where were you this morning?" But as the woman finally stepped out of the kitchen, she saw that Keiichi wasn't anywhere to be seen and instead there was an attractive green haired young woman standing next to her husband. Keiichi's mother knew at once the only possible person this young woman could be. "This is Mion-san isn't it?" asked Keiichi's mother smiling.

Mion was surprised that Keiichi's mother was able to guess who she was. The two had never met in person and the only time they ever talked was on the phone, and that was only for a few seconds before Mion would ask for Keiichi. But then she remembered her manners and began bowing. "Ah! I am pleased to meet you Mrs. Maebara. My name is Sonozaki Mion, Keiichi's friend from school."

Keiichi's mother smiled at her warmly. "I knew it. You call here so often dear, I would've been quite foolish had I not known it was you." Mion blushed; she did often call the Maebara household just to talk to Keiichi. That and to make sure he was still wearing his penalty garments.

Keiichi's father began to introduce Keiichi's mother. "This lovely woman and gourmet cook is my wife and Keiichi's mother. You should probably call her Aiko though; _Mrs._ _Maebara_ makes her seem old. And as you can see, she is far from it."

Aiko continued to smile, taking no heed of Ichirou's flattery; it looked as though she had long since become used to Ichirou's antics.

Ichirou smelled the air and instantly became infatuated; it was obvious that he had just smelled breakfast. "Aiko, breakfast smells delicious! I must have some!" Keiichi's father had a dreamy look as his hands began crawling towards the kitchen. Keiichi's mother simply slapped them away.

"It's not ready yet honey. You're going to have to wait… But Mion dearest, could you help me finish up in the kitchen?" Mion bowed rapidly in acceptance of Aiko's request and followed her into the kitchen.

The senior Maebara's eyes immediately began to flood tears as he was now left all alone in the main room. But then he noticed Keiichi open the door and walk into the house. Ichirou wondered where Keiichi had gone before, not remembering that he had left Keiichi outside.

Inside the kitchen, Mion helped Keiichi's mother prepare breakfast. Mion simply cut up a cucumber while Aiko finished up on the main food items. It seemed to Mion that Keiichi's mother took her cooking very seriously; and from what Mion could tell from what Aiko was cooking now, as well as the packed lunches that Keiichi brought, that Aiko was a master chef. Mion was surprised that Aiko wasn't a famous chef like Ichirou was a famous artist but Mion figured that they were probably together because they were masters in their respective fields; that and Ichirou was apparently a hound for good food. _That's one thing the father and son have in common_, Mion thought. Aiko's looks and youthful appearance were also in her favor; Mion was surprised that Aiko was in her 30s, she looked more as though she was in her 20s.

"So Mion-san, are you also in the drama club with Keiichi?" asked Aiko innocently.

Mion didn't understand Aiko's question at first. She wasn't aware of there being a drama club in the little school in Hinamizawa. And even if there was secretly one, Keiichi definitely wasn't in it seeing as how all of his time was spent in _her_ club. But then Mion understood how Aiko had gotten the impression that Keiichi was in a drama club; after all, Mion was the one that made him dress up in various costumes that would definitely make for one bizarre stage production. Mion decided to play along; after all, she couldn't very well say that all of those costumes that Keiichi wore were a result of her punishing him for losing board games.

"Ah-ha yes! I'm the president of the drama club at school and Keiichi's a member," explained Mion, albeit unconvincingly. Aiko didn't seem to notice Mion's slight hesitation; or at least, she didn't make any indication that she did.

"That's nice, although sometimes I wonder about all of those costumes he wears. He doesn't seem to like wearing them very much," said Aiko. Mion wondered if Keiichi's mother was going to scold her for making Keiichi wear the bizarre outfits, but it soon became apparent that this wasn't the case. "Keiichi-kun must really like you if he wears all those costumes," said Aiko in a knowing sing'song'y tone.

Mion blushed and wondered just what Aiko was insinuating. Mion wondered if perhaps Aiko knew Keiichi's true feelings. Gathering from what Aiko had just insinuated, it appeared as though Keiichi felt the same feelings that Mion felt for him. But Mion was surprised; she figured that Keiichi continued to play those penalty games because he was a glutton for punishment; Mion hadn't thought for a moment that he continued to wear those embarrassing costumes because he knew she liked it. _Then it's a lot like in my dream_, thought Mion as she remembered the Keiichi in her dream wearing the country maid outfit, seemingly for her. Given this new revelation from Keiichi's mother, it seemed as though her dream could possibly be prophetic. Mion hoped anyway.

Mion was gladdened by the prospect of Keiichi wearing her costumes just for her; and to top it all off, it seemed that Keiichi's mother approved of her. The idea made Mion's imagination start to run wild. Mion imagined herself prostrating down on the ground in front of Keiichi's parents, who would be sitting down on their knees in the traditional style. Mion would ask them for permission to pursue Keiichi romantically. But then she remembered what Keiichi's dad really was like and her little fantasy came crashing down. While Mion would be bowing, she imagined Aiko smiling warmly at her but she also imagined Keiichi's dad giving her a very untraditional thumbs-up as he said something like, 'Do your best!' Keiichi's dad would never alet something like Mion's fantasy happen smoothly; his eccentricities would ruin it all. But still, Mion felt rather relieved that Keiichi's parents liked her well enough. A part of her was actually afraid that they'd be angry at her for abusing their only son; but it was just too much fun.

Aiko noticed Mion's blush and consequent deep contemplation. "So dear, do you also like Keiichi-kun?"

Mion was shocked that Keiichi's mom would so blatantly ask this. Mion could've sworn that there was an unspoken rule about parents and their children's relationships that strictly prohibited the parents of the second party from directly asking the the first party her feelings for their child. Suggesting that two people are cute together is fine. Nudging two people together by setting up seemingly impossible situations that force the two parties to grow closer; that's fine too. But the parent of the boy she likes asking if she likes the boy; Mion was certain that was off-limits. Mion plotted her response carefully; she was treading on dangerous ground. She could attempt to deny it, as per her standard policy regarding Keiichi, but that would most undoubtedly ruin this great rapport she had with Keiichi's mother. Mion could tell the truth and admit that she liked Keiichi; she might even gain allies in the form of Aiko and Ichirou. As things currently stood, it would be impossible for Mion to get a good chance to confess to Keiichi. Although Mion acted rather tomboyish, it was just that, an act. She was still a girl and so she also really wanted Keiichi to confess to her, not the other way around. Mion would still be willing to initiate a relationship upgrade if she thought it would genuinely work, but she still wasn't too sure. Keiichi didn't even comment about yesterday's kiss at all and Mion had to sum up a lot of courage to do that. So if Keiichi's parents could help convince Keiichi then it would be really helpful. But on the other hand… Mion mentally slapped herself; she was over-thinking this by a significant margin. Mion decided she would just admit it.

"I LIKE KEI-CHAN!" said Mion, unable to keep the not too unobvious secret any longer. Suddenly everything became quiet; but not only was the kitchen now quiet, it seemed that whatever conversation that was outside in the main room was also silenced. Mion was overcome with embarrassment; she hoped that Keiichi hadn't heard her crazed outburst. Aiko looked at Mion surprised. It seemed as though Mion had snapped but she remembered her husband doing something similar before they were married…

Aiko smiled at the teenage girl who was smitten with Keiichi. "That's wonderful dear. Keiichi-kun will be pleased when I tell him."

Mion looked at Aiko with complete alarm in her eyes. "Y-You c-can't! Please, I would just die from embarrassment." Mion's hands were clasped into a begging position.

Aiko smiled some more at Mion, it became clear that Keiichi's mother was just teasing the love-struck girl. "I was just teasing dear." Mion breathed a sigh of relief. "But please, go easy on Keiichi. He's my only child after all." Aiko winked at Mion. Keiichi's mother, who looked so young, evoked such a motherly aura. Mion was surprised but she was glad that Keiichi had such a loving family. "Now help me bring the food out. I'm sure the boys are hungry by now." Mion helped Aiko carry plates full of delicious looking and smelling food out into the main room. Mion was glad that she finally got to meet Keiichi's family.

As Mion and Aiko walked out into the main room, Mion noticed Keiichi and his father sitting grumpily by the chabudai table quietly. From the looks of things, the two were not making eye contact and it seemed as though they had gotten into some kind of brawl, judging by the bumps on their heads. Mion guessed that it was probably a light-hearted father-son beating, seeing as how she hadn't heard anything drastic from inside the kitchen. Mion marveled at the dynamics of the Maebara family; Mion's family was nothing like this, they would've never been able to have such light-hearted 'fun'. Mion didn't even spend much time with her parents; as the heir to the Sonozaki Estate, she was expected to live with her grandmother so the dynamics of her family was vastly different from the Maebara's. It was honestly refreshing for Mion to see a family like this; no formalities, no public face/private face dichotomy. It was a nice normal family. She didn't know about the coldness of the Maebara's prior to their move to Hinamizawa, however.

"Breakfast is ready everyone," announced Keiichi's mother. She was putting on a genuinely cheerful smile. Mion hoped it was because she was here to join them today.

After hearing that breakfast was ready, Keiichi and his father instantly perked up. The event that had caused the father and son to quarrel was seemingly forgotten. The two had begun salivating. Mion couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight, and today she would be able to join the Maebara's. It was like eating with her in-laws. Mion shook the thought away; she was getting too ahead of herself.

Before long, the Maebara's and a tomboy, one who likes to get into fights with the successor of the Maebara name, were eating away at the breakfast. Mion herself took a quick glance at the rapid rate in which Keiichi and his father were scarfing down the food before she continued doing the same thing. Come to think of it, Mion went straight to sleep yesterday and had missed dinner. Mion was surprised that she hadn't noticed her own hunger until now, but she attributed it to having so much fun with Keiichi both last night and this morning.

Keiichi's father suddenly began shouting with food still in his mouth; he was pointing a somewhat accusing finger at Mion. "I finally know where I recognize you from Mion! You work at the Angel Mort restaurant don't you? I distinctly recall you wearing one of those divine outfits."

Mion was surprised that Keiichi's dad recognized her; or rather her sister. But Mion would have to disappoint the elder Maebara. "Ahaha. Nope, you're probably thinking of my twin sister Shion."

Keiichi's father was flabbergasted. "Y-Y-Y-YOU HAVE A TWIN SISTER!?" Mion nodded. Ichirou looked tearfully at Keiichi. "Keiichi, my son! If you accomplish nothing else in your meaningless life, you must at least…!" The elder Maebara's impassioned plea was interrupted by a punch to the shoulder from Keiichi's fist. Keiichi carried an angry look beneath his closed eyes. It was obvious to Keiichi what his perverted father was attempting to ask him. Hint: it involved a threesome and twins.

Ichirou nervously attempted to explain himself, feigning innocence. "Why did you hit your father? I didn't have perverted intentions for you." Ichirou cleared his throat. "I simply meant to ask you to get Mion and her sister…Shion was it? to pose for one of my paintings. Divine beauties like them simply can't be left unpainted." Keiichi punched him again. This time Keiichi's father simply slumped himself, tears running down his face. Aiko just smiled at all of this, she was definitely used to the antics in this family.

Mion simply stared at the amusing display. Meals in the Maebara Manor were a lot like lunch at school. This thought brought a smile to Mion's face and she began laughing. Keiichi and his father stopped bickering and just looked at her.

Mion saw this and attempted to stifle her laughter as she apologized. "Eheheh. Sorry everyone, it's just that… Hahaha. Kei-chan, your family is so fun!"

Keiichi's father joined into the laughter. Even Keiichi's mother tittered a bit. Keiichi simply sat there dumbfounded. His father was so many levels of embarrassment and yet Mion thought this was fun. But then Keiichi remembered back to before his family moved to Hinamizawa and he realized that these joyful times that he had with his family now, they were indeed fun. Keiichi joined in the laughter as well and before he knew it, the entire room was filled with joyous laughter. Keiichi began to feel truly blessed and he looked at the still laughing Mion; he silently thanked her for showing him how great his life in Hinamizawa really was.

Mion noticed Keiichi look at her warmly and quit laughing, a blush formed on her face. She really wished that Keiichi wouldn't just randomly do that; it was really embarrassing. She much preferred the vengeful face that Keiichi carried after being penalized by her. Although she did like the attention he gave her in moments such as this and subconsciously wished that they would occur more often. Being rivals with Keiichi was fun and all but she wanted something more with Keiichi. It was never boring with Keiichi around and she enjoyed penalizing him but every once in a while, she wanted him to just hold her hand. Mion mentally slapped herself; she realized that she was getting too worked up over this. She enjoyed just being Keiichi's friend, didn't she? No, if she did then she wouldn't penalize him as much as she did. She wouldn't be using her enslavement of Keiichi as a way to, more or less, subtly convey her feelings. But then, Mion felt glad again. She felt that things were going really well; Keiichi's mother even insinuated that Keiichi really _liked_ Mion. Mion silently thanked Shion for her hand in all this.

Ichirou began wiping his tears of laughter and said, "Mion, I'm so glad. What with Keiichi's bizarre costumes, I was beginning to think he batted for the other team. Not that I really had a problem with that, I just really wanted a daughter-in-law." Keiichi punched his dad again, unable to understand how his father was incapable of understanding the simple concept that Keiichi and Mion were just friends.

Ichirou suddenly slammed the chabudai with his fist, silencing the whole table; Keiichi and his father were really alike in a lot of ways. Apparently Ichirou was struck with an awesome idea and now had to announce it. "Hey! I just remembered that Aiko and I needed to go to Okinomiya to pick something up. Would you kids want to come with us there?"

Keiichi did not like this at all. Yesterday when he went to Okinomiya, it was a royal pain. Okinomiya was a place that was like Mion's playground, just like how the forest was Satoko's. In both places, Keiichi was constantly abused. It also didn't help that Okinomiya housed an innumerable amount of Sonozaki owned businesses, all of which Mion seemed to have a close familiarity with. Frankly, Keiichi didn't care to see any of the other Sonozaki businesses beyond what Mion had already shown him.

Keiichi silently attempted to beg his dad to revoke the offer. Keiichi mimed all manners of expressions as he tried to get his dad to take it back, to save him from the inevitable humiliation from Mion. His dad ignored him.

Mion, seeing Keiichi's fear of Okinomiya, realized that she would have to break him of this fear. Hopefully, she'd also get the chance to embarrass him some more. "Ahaha. That sounds like a great idea Mr. Maebara! Kei-chan and I were thinking of going to Okinomiya later, but since biking there takes so long, we weren't sure. But now it looks like we can, right Kei-chan?" Mion gave Keiichi a wink.

Keiichi silently cursed everyone here; a forlorn look revealed a desire to be listened to. Mion had just decided that Keiichi and she would go to Okinomiya and since Keiichi was a slave, he couldn't do anything about it.

Ichirou looked ecstatic. "Great! Then it's settled, we're all going to Okinomiya," said Ichirou. Keiichi could only cry inwardly; being with Mion was terrible enough, his crazy dad would not help the situation at all.

As the Maebara family began cleaning up the breakfast table, Mion suddenly remembered that she was still wearing Shion's clothes and that she was still carrying Keiichi's gift. She would need to deposit both in her grandmother's house. "Ahahaha. Before we go, could we stop by my grandmother's house? I need to get a change of clothes. Als-"

Ichirou interrupted Mion. "WHAT?! Those clothes look fine. There's no need to change." Ichirou seemed to like that relatively short skirt that Mion wore. Keiichi could only groan at the awkwardness of his father, and supposed that artists all had to have their quirks. Keiichi hoped for this at least, lest he have the worst luck in the world by getting the only eccentric artist in existence as a father.

Keiichi admitted to himself that he thought that Shion's clothes looked nice on Mion. But Keiichi didn't care too much for them; Mion is Mion and Shion is Shion. And even though Keiichi felt a little presumptuous for thinking this; he preferred his best friend wearing clothes that suited her, tom-boyish or not. However, Keiichi admitted to himself that he liked the idea of Mion wearing a maid outfit, even the dress from yesterday seemed to suit her.

Mion nervously declined Ichirou's 'compliment'. "Ahahaha. I'm glad you think they're nice but they're actually my sister's."

Ichirou began turning his head slowly towards Keiichi, shock and perversion apparent on his face. The idea of a twin switching clothes with her twin was simply too much for Ichirou. However, he stopped just short of looking at Keiichi with such a perverted face. Keiichi probably would've just hit him again after all.

Mion continued, "Also, I need to put away this gift that Kei-chan gave me." Mion wondered a little about how Keiichi's parents would react to him having given her a gift. Keiichi himself was nervous that his parents would think he was attempting to go steady with Mion or something, they were just friends.

This time, Ichirou did completely turn to look at Keiichi. However, instead of a perverted face, Ichirou gave Keiichi a big smile and a thumbs-up and said, "Nice."

Keiichi glared at his dad, a subtle attempt at telling his dad that he was embarrassing them both. It would've been embarrassing enough if Keiichi and Mion were actually a couple but they weren't even that. Ichirou acting as though Keiichi giving Mion a gift was due to some romantic purpose was beyond embarrassing.

Ichirou turned back to Mion and said, "Well I suppose it can't be helped then. We'll drop by the Sonozaki house. Besides, we should probably introduce ourselves to your grandmother. After all, your grandmother is some kind of big-shot around here right?" Keiichi was incredulous; he wondered if his dad really didn't know that Sonozaki Oryou was the de facto leader of Hinamizawa or if his dad was just attempting to act tough. Ichirou continued. "And she's probably very traditional as a result. So it would be best if we introduced ourselves to your grandmother. After all, Keiichi _is_ trying to woo her granddaughter."

Mion blushed at this but Keiichi simply felt that his father was beyond help. It didn't look like Keiichi would ever be able to convince his dad that Mion and he were not dating.

Mion recomposed herself and nodded. She would use Keiichi's parents' misconceptions on her relationship with Keiichi to her advantage. She smiled as she said, "Yes, I think my Onibaba would like that very much."

Ichirou looked at Mion with his jaw dropped. "O-O-Onibaba?" asked Ichirou. Mion simply smiled. Ichirou was shocked that Mion's grandmother would be referred to by such a frightening amalgamation of words. Ichirou began to imagine a wicked grandmother who did not allow anyone to get close to her granddaughter and has already killed the families of many former suitors. But Mion was obviously a grand catch; Ichirou decided that he would be a man and help his son get the woman he loved. That was Ichirou's delusion anyway; Keiichi didn't have thoughts of marrying Mion or anything of that nature, it was all just wishful thinking on Ichirou's part.

Keiichi snickered at his father's reaction to what Mion called her grandmother. It seemed that there was actually something that could put a hold to his father's 'matchmaking'. Keiichi himself wasn't nearly as frightened about the prospect of meeting this 'Onibaba'. From what he heard from Mion, Sonozaki Oryou was actually a kind person who was simply intimidating a lot of the time. And seeing how Mion's grandmother had actually ended Satoko's ostracization after some minor coaxing from Kimiyoshi, Keiichi could believe it. Mion's grandmother also made great Ohagis. Although Keiichi had never met Mion's grandmother before, he couldn't help but feel that he had and that she was just what Mion described her, intimidating but genuinely kind. Keiichi didn't mind going to meet Mion's grandmother for real. At least that would be more fun than going to Okinomiya, Keiichi figured.

Keiichi snapped out of his thoughts and said, "Sounds great! First we'll go meet Mion's grandma and then we'll go to Okinomiya."

Mion gave Keiichi a devilish grin. "Hehehe. Glad you're serious about this Kei-chan."

"Huh? What do you mean Mion?" asked Keiichi. Mion just gave him a friendly smile; it seemed she was going to keep what she meant a secret. Keiichi simply shrugged at her, he was used to her 'mood-swings' and wasn't sure if there was any meaning to any of them. If there was, Keiichi wasn't sure he wanted to find out the root of it. The irony was that Keiichi himself was the root of it all.

Ichirou stood up from the chabudai table. "All right let's get going!" announced Ichirou. But then he noticed his wife Aiko was missing, she must've disappeared sometime after they had finished eating. "Hmm… Keiichi, did you see your mother leave?" Keiichi shook his head. Ichirou felt particularly stumped.

Just then, Keiichi's mother came back into the main room. She was carrying a gift wrapped box. It was clearly meant to be a gift for Mion's grandmother, seeing as how this was the first time they visited her. Mion marveled at how Keiichi's mom had already handled that, it seemed to Mion that Keiichi's mother picked up the slack where the Maebara men were lacking. Mion knew that her grandmother was very traditional and so she would've appreciated the gesture.

"Hmmm? What's that Aiko?" asked Ichirou, pointing at the gift box. Keiichi could only marvel at the stupidity of his father. For someone who was often called an artistic genius, Keiichi's father seemed to know very little about customs and courtesy. However, Keiichi wasn't one to talk seeing as how he had also forgotten that such a trinket would've been necessary.

"It is customary to bring a gift when visiting someone's home for the first time dear," said Aiko. Ichirou slapped his forehead, ashamed he had forgotten. Ichirou desperately wanted to make a good impression to Mion's grandmother for the sake of his son's love life, but he had forgotten about something as vital as customary gift giving. Without it, he may very well have ruined his son's chances with Mion, or so his delusion told him.

Mion found the Maebara family to be incredibly interesting and fun, she couldn't imagine life in the Maebara family as ever being boring. And now she couldn't wait as the Maebara family went with her to meet her grandmother. Mion hoped that her Onibaba wouldn't be too harsh on the Maebara's.

* * *

"Well, I'll go put away my stuff. Please get acquainted with my grandmother," said Mion as she began to head off into her room. The Maebara's and Mion were now in the visiting room of the Sonozaki Estate. Mion whispered one final thing to the Maebara's before she left. "Oh yeah, be careful. My grandmother doesn't have a good impression of you guys since you never came to visit when you first moved here." Ichirou was shocked that he was not warned of this before and began to sweat nervously.

After Mion left, the room became dead silent. The Maebara's were all sitting on their knees in front of Sonozaki Oryou, the demon grandmother and de facto leader of all of Hinamizawa whose influence also spread throughout Shishibone City. Keiichi and his mother were seated calmly, but the same could not be said for Keiichi's father who sat in the middle. Ichirou was visibly sweating; he was beyond the normal range of nervousness.

Keiichi, seeing this awkward silence, decided to speak up. After all, even though Oryou-sama looked incredibly intimidating at the moment, Mion had said that she was a kind person. Keiichi bowed his head a little as he said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Oryou-sama. Mion has told me such great things about you."

Oryou, seeing Keiichi's initiative, relaxed her face a little but still offered no smile. "Yes, I know all about you Maebara Keiichi. My granddaughter talks about you quite frequently." What Oryou said was an understatement, Mion spoke about Keiichi almost every waking moment but Oryou figured it was best to keep that a secret. It was obvious to Oryou that her granddaughter was smitten with the Maebara youth and she didn't want to stir things up regarding that at all. Oryou felt that she knew the boy well enough; from what she heard from Mion regarding their club activities and even the last Watanagashi Festival, the boy was a decent sort. Even though this was the first time that Oryou had ever met the boy, she felt that she knew the boy quite well. Brash but well-meaning were the characteristics she thought of when thinking of the boy, precisely the kind of new wind that was necessary to clean Hinamizawa of its polluted air. And oddly enough, when Oryou ended the young Houjou girl's ostracization, she thought of the Maebara youth even though she had never seen him before. Oryou couldn't help but feel that the Maebara boy had fought some great unknown battle to help the young girl. However, even though she felt she knew all about Keiichi, she knew next to nothing about the kind of man his father was beyond the fact that he was a famous artist.

Oryou turned from Keiichi to look at his father. "However, I know next to nothing about your father. Although given the fact that your family never came to visit the Sonozaki Estate when your family first moved here, I can venture a guess of what kind of man he is. Disrespectful," said Oryou as she glared at the older Maebara.

Ichirou instantly prostrated himself and began apologizing. "I-I-I apologize completely for my ignorance! As h-h-head of the Maebara household I accept c-c-complete responsibility. P-please do not punish my son for my m-mistakes," said Ichirou pathetically.

Keiichi could only look disbelievingly at how much his father was making a fool of himself. His father's reaction to Oryou's quip was beyond the level of what could be considered humility. It was as though his father sacrificed an entire kingdom when all that was asked of him was a tithe. However, even though his father apologized in the most pathetic way possible, Keiichi couldn't help but appreciate that his father thought more about his son than himself. But Keiichi was still annoyed that his father acted as though Keiichi was attempting to woo Mion, it was nothing like that at all after all.

Oryou seemed to accept Ichirou's apology. "Yes. Fortunately you brought such a well wrapped gift today, so I can consider your past affront as water under the bridge." As Ichirou sighed in relief, Keiichi silently thanked his mother's amazing foresight regarding the situation. Oryou continued. "However, it is to my understanding that you intend on bringing my granddaughter with you to a short trip to Okinomiya? And yet you didn't see fit to ask the head of her family, me?" Ichirou again instantly prostrated himself as he once more apologized repeatedly. "Well I suppose it can't be helped. I cannot really control what my free-spirited granddaughter does a lot of the time." Ichirou gave another sigh of relief; this time at the fact that Mion wasn't put on as nearly as short of a leash as he had originally thought.

"Well then, Maebara Keiichi," said Oryou, "be sure to take care of my granddaughter on your trip." Keiichi thought that Oryou seemed to be insinuating something but he couldn't venture a guess regarding what it was. "If you don't, I will run you through with my katana." Keiichi and his father both reflexively braced themselves after Oryou said this; Aiko however just continued sitting with a smile.

"All right I'm back everyone!" It was Mion, she had come back and she was no longer wearing Shion's clothes. She was now wearing her normal, for her at least, yellow shirt, jeans, sweater around the waist, and holstered gun ensemble. Ichirou frowned slightly at this change of clothes; the previous one was more attractive, this one made her appear as a tomboy, especially the gun which was actually rather intimidating. However, after over a day of seeing Mion in bizarre clothes, Keiichi was relieved to see this familiar Mion.

"Great to see you looking normal Mion. This look suits you better and it's more befitting of my _rival_," said Keiichi, smirking.

Mion suddenly felt incredibly disappointed. _Rival?_ Mion thought. _Is Kei-chan unable to see me anything more than as a rival or friend? Perhaps I still need to wear something more girly…_

But Keiichi interrupted her train of thought as he grabbed her wrist. She was surprised by the action. His parents had already said goodbye to the elder Sonozaki and were headed to the car. He himself noticed Mion just standing there absently, seemingly in deep contemplation. Keiichi gave the Oryou a polite bow and then turned to Mion, whose wrist was still in his hand, telling her, "Mion! Snap out of it, let's go."

Mion had no choice as she followed his lead. She wouldn't be able to change into something feminine that would catch Keiichi's attention; Mion would just have to have fun with Keiichi while wearing her normal casual clothes. She laughed a little inside, as she thought of what a poor slave Keiichi made. But she decided to make sure to later punish her slave for interrupting her thoughts.

When everyone had left the Sonozaki Estate, leaving just Sonozaki Oryou in the main room, the old woman gave a small smile that was almost unnoticeable in her wrinkled face. "Mingle in with the new wind Mion…" said Oryou in the empty room.

* * *

"Aiko and I need to do something else here in Okinomiya," said Ichirou. "Something that would absolutely bore you kids so you should just do something else while we head the opposite direction. And if you somehow see us while you're having fun then just ignore us as we're probably doing something incredibly boring." Ichirou thought he was incredibly sly as he gave the two teens a false explanation of why they were splitting up. Ichirou's intention was to spy on the kids as they explored Okinomiya. Keiichi found his dad's explanation oddly vague and suspicious, even when the nature of his dad was taken into consideration. But Mion saw no problem with it.

"Sounds great Mr. Maebara!" said Mion. Keiichi couldn't believe that Mion wasn't suspicious about the whole situation. "Do you want to meet up later for lunch then?"

Ichirou contemplated this for a moment. He hadn't considered the possibility that the kids would need to eat or that he would need to meet up with them, after all he was planning on tailing them closely. "Well I suppose we could meet up with you guys at around 1 PM in front of the Angel Mort for Lunch," said Ichirou.

"Great! See you then Mr. and Mrs. Maebara!" said Mion. She then grabbed Keiichi's wrist and ran to an unknown location, Keiichi in tow.

Ichirou simply stared at the girl shocked, amazed at her athleticism. Then he cursed himself, realizing that he had no idea where they were headed. His plan to spy on the young couple was ruined.

"Hey Aiko, do you have any idea where Keiichi and Mion are going?" asked Ichirou, exasperated.

Aiko simply shrugged at him, smiling. She didn't have a clue either.

"Ah geeze…" said Ichirou. "Guess we have no choice; let's just go do something until 1 PM."

When Mion and Keiichi were far from the sight of Keiichi's parents, Mion finally stopped, allowing the tired Keiichi a break. Keiichi was panting rather heavily, although he had received some more upper body strength after having been forced to carry the other club members' stuff over the past few months, his stamina was still pretty low.

"What are you trying to do Mion? Give me a heart attack?!" said Keiichi. He was clearly annoyed by the bossy club-president.

Mion just grinned at him wickedly; it seemed that the innocent demeanor that Mion carried while his parents were around left as soon they were out of sight. This could mean only one thing for Keiichi; the hiatus in his enslavement had now ended. "Ehehehe, _Kei-chan_. If that wore you out then Oji-san will just have to make you work more. Young boys like you shouldn't be worn out so easily," said Mion. She then proceeded to grab Keiichi's bottom. "Hmmm… nice ass as always Kei-chan but it could afford to be firmer."

Keiichi was immediately embarrassed, hoping that no one around had seen Mion's action. It seemed that no one had but Keiichi couldn't help but feel astounded at how quickly Mion had changed from a nice innocent girl to such a dirty old man. "This…this is sexual harassment…" said Keiichi sheepishly with just a hint of annoyance.

Mion began to tower over him; her face had become truly devilish. "It's okay Kei-chan… because you're my slave."

Keiichi cried out inwardly, Mion would never let him forget that he was her slave for even a moment. But just as suddenly as Mion grabbed his buttocks, she stopped. Keiichi looked back at her; she was looking at a toy store in front of them. Then he remembered that this toy store belonged to her uncle and she often worked here part time.

Mion wasn't just looking at the store though. She was looking at what was being displayed in the display window. In it was a cute doll that she had wanted. She couldn't remember when she had wanted it but she knew that she had for the longest time. It was a strange feeling for Mion; it was as though that doll was something she had owned in a dream but had now lost. The doll seemed to invoke painful emotions for her but also really loving emotions, and then she thought of Keiichi. Mion didn't know why but she wanted Keiichi to buy this doll for her, as a gift even though he had already given her a gift earlier in the morning.

Without warning, Keiichi grabbed Mion's wrist and said, "Let's go inside!"

"W-wait a second Kei-chan. There's nothing I want inside there, so there's really no point," said Mion. She hoped that Keiichi hadn't seen her looking at the doll. She didn't want to be perceived as a doll-loving little girl, it would've been too embarrassing.

"Nonsense," said Keiichi bluntly. He dragged her into the store, as his hand held onto her wrist. It was now an inverse of the earlier situation, but this time Keiichi was holding onto Mion's wrist and dragging _her_ around.

Soon enough, the two were inside the store. "Master!" said Keiichi at the counter. The storekeeper, Mion's uncle walked out of the backroom.

Mion's uncle saw Keiichi's hand holding Mion's wrist, her eyes cast to the side and a blush on her cheeks. "Mion and Keiichi? Are you two here to purchase another board game perhaps?" he asked them curiously.

"Maybe, I don't know," said Keiichi. "But I would like to purchase that doll in your display window."

Mion stood there petrified with astonishment. _Did Kei-chan see me looking at it? But how did he know I wanted it? Oh no, this is too embarrassing. Maybe he's buying it for Rena or one of the other club members. Yeah, that's probably it. He wouldn't buy me something like that, there's no way in hell he would_, thought Mion.

"Here you go Mion, for you," said Keiichi warmly. He was handing her a paper bag. Mion wasn't sure what was in it. She had been contemplating so deeply before, worrying over whether or not Keiichi was buying the doll for her that she didn't even see him purchase it.

Mion took the bag and took out its contents. It was indeed the doll from the display window, the doll that she had wanted for the longest time, the doll that she wanted Keiichi to buy for her. Mion then remembered that she was the club-president, a tom-boy, and Keiichi's superior; she had to try to save face.

"Ahahaha!" laughed Mion awkwardly. "Thanks for this Kei-chan. But this doesn't suit me at all. I don't really like dolls or anything like that; sometimes I wonder why I wasn't born a man! Ahahaha!"

Keiichi just scoffed at her, finding her attempt at denying his gift a clear 'lady-doth-protests-too-much' moment. "You're too noisy Mion. Besides, I know that you're actually really girly. No use trying to hide it. So take good care of your doll, if you don't then I'll be really pissed off," said Keiichi as he smiled at her.

Mion was surprised. Keiichi had seen right through her. _So he knows that I'm really just a girl underneath my tomboyish façade. Then does he know how I really feel about him?_ "Thank you Kei-chan…" muttered Mion.

Mion's thoughts were interrupted by her uncle. "Would you like that gift-wrapped?" asked her uncle.

Mion shook her head. "No, I'd rather hold it…" She blushed as she held the doll closer to her; the doll's hat touched her chin as she closed her eyes. Mion enjoyed the feeling of receiving a gift from Keiichi, it was a kind of bliss not unlike the one in her dream, and she imagined the doll to be Keiichi. It was a gift from Keiichi so it was close enough for her, she would treasure this gift as much as she did her relationship with the boy who gave her the gift.

Keiichi looked at this serene Mion, whose eyes were closed as she held the doll he bought for her closely. He was glad that he was able to realize that she wanted this doll; something deep inside him told him to buy it for her. Keiichi didn't get much of an allowance every month and he didn't work so he wasn't eager to spend money but he felt that if he bought it for Mion then she would be really happy. And seeing her like this, Keiichi knew that he was right. It was definitely worth it. Hopefully it would get him out of his enslavement a little sooner too.

"Mion, want to head out?" asked Keiichi, placing his hand on Mion's shoulder. He waved Mion's uncle goodbye with his other hand, who smiled in return.

Mion nodded in agreement although she kept her eyes closed. Keiichi was really glad that he gave Mion that gift; not only did it make Mion really happy, it also calmed her usual noisy self. But now, Keiichi did want to hear her voice, he had just given her such a great gift he wanted her to shout out thanks or something. But Keiichi realized that Mion was a tomboy, there was no way he could expect her to go overboard over a doll. It just wouldn't have been the Mion he knew it all, but she was definitely revealing more of her feminine side these days. Yesterday, Mion had worn that sundress and today she was holding onto a doll so dearly. Keiichi found these events rather comical; a far cry from the Mion that scoffed at a Yamainu captain and shielded him and the other club members from a deranged Takano. Thinking about the day of the Watanagashi Festival, Keiichi was reminded about how much he appreciated Mion. Mion was a person that was willing to protect him with her life. The fact that he had such a good friend like Mion, it was so different from when he was in the city.

Soon the two were outside; Mion had been able to navigate herself out of the store with her eyes closed. Keiichi marveled at Mion's knowledge of the store, but attributed it to the fact that she worked there often and probably bought even more games from there.

"So Mion, what are your plans for your humble slave today?" asked Keiichi. He wasn't too eager to know what he'd have to do as her slave but he preferred planning out how much energy he would have to expend. But if it was anything like the morning then Mion would have no clue and he'd have to suggest his own grave.

Mion opened her eyes that had been closed since they were in the store. "Because of the gift, Oji-san will let you off from any heavy manual labor. In fact, we can do anything you want."

Keiichi was relieved and pleased that his gift had some effect on quelling his overbearing overlord. "Hehehe. I should probably bribe you with gifts _every_ time I lose a penalty game." Keiichi laughed at his joke.

Mion joined in the laughter but quickly sneaked in a short line, "I wouldn't mind…", and she blushed. Mion was getting braver at conveying her feelings; it seemed that Shion's plans were working out.

Keiichi wasn't sure he heard what Mion had said and so didn't respond to it. "Well, I don't really feel like doing anything today. I'm still a little tired after you had me dig for treasure like a dog at 4 in the morning," quipped Keiichi. Mion laughed at Keiichi's fake display of anger. "So I wouldn't mind just hanging out in the Okinomiya park."

Mion smiled at him, she was still holding the doll closely to her body. "Yes, that sounds fine…" But after realizing she was acting a little too out of character, she added, "this Oji-san is dead-tired anyway."

As the pair walked to the park, watching them from behind a bush was a man and a woman. It was Keiichi's parents. Ichirou silently praised his son's 'smoothness' with Mion. Aiko just stared at him incredulously; it seemed she was unable to tolerate her husband's meddling any further. But just as she was about to tell her husband this, a trio of people approached behind them.

"Why in the world are you spying on my daughter and her friend?" asked a green haired woman from behind Ichirou. It was Sonozaki Akane and with her was her husband and Kasai, two well built and intimidating looking men.

Ichirou, whose eyes never left his son and Mion, was annoyed by the intrusion and slowly began to turn around to face the intruders. "Buzz off. I'm not spying on your daughter and her friend; I am spying on my son and _his_…" The cold realization of the relationship that the intruders had with one of the two people he was spying on began to hit him like a cold brick. When his head had finished turning around, Ichirou came face to face with a green haired woman standing next to two intimidating men towering over him. The green haired woman was remarkably similar to Mion in appearance; she was undoubtedly Mion's mother.

Aiko was already standing by the time Ichirou instantly stood himself up. Ichirou began speaking incomprehensibly, "Ahaha! Sorry- You see- My son- It's like- First date-." The man was too unable to get over his shock to be able to say anything of worth but Akane interrupted him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Maebara Ichirou and Maebara Aiko," said Akane as she, her husband, and Kasai bowed. "We are quite acquainted with your son and it seems you've recently been acquainted with my daughter correct?"

Ichirou began to respond, he was able to compose himself this time. "Ah yes. Pleased to meet you, we brought my son Keiichi and Mion here to Okinomiya. But if you don't mind me asking, what is your name and who are these two gentlemen?"

"Pardon my rudeness," said Akane. "This is Kasai; he's my right hand man," pointing to the clean-cut man wearing sunglasses. "And this is my husband and father of Mion," pointing to the other man. "We were just finished with some business when we happened to notice a suspicious looking man spying on my daughter and her dear friend."

Ichirou was once again at a loss for words, it would be difficult for him to explain his shady operation. But Aiko spoke up for him instead.

"Forgive my husband and me," said Aiko. "We were simply worried for our son; he hasn't really been with a girl alone before." The answer wasn't terribly sufficient but Aiko's politeness made the answer acceptable enough for Akane.

"I see, well since you two seem so vested in helping your son with his love life, I have a-." Akane was interrupted by Ichirou.

"Love life? Who said anything about that? My son's just hanging out with his friend, who happens to be your daughter. Nothing odd about that, nothing at all," said Ichirou nervously. It seemed he was intimidated by Kasai and Mion's father.

"Enough," said Akane, slight annoyance in her voice. Ichirou was instantly silenced. "Now if you really want to help your son and my daughter then I have a plan."

Kasai spoke up: "Akane-sama. I don't think we should meddle in the affairs of the young people."

Akane simply laughed at Kasai mockingly. "Kusukusukusu. Kasai, you shouldn't worry about that. We are just giving a nice young couple who don't know that they're a couple a helping hand. You could call it a future mother-in-law helping out her daughter and future son-in-law. It's nothing like meddling." Kasai could only give Akane's husband a look that said, 'she's crazy', and Akane's husband chortled a bit.

Ichirou himself began to feel relieved; it seemed to him that Akane was also on a similar track of pushing Mion and Keiichi together. Although Ichirou had no idea why Akane would want to marry her daughter off to his clumsy son, he wasn't one to question providence. But then Ichirou began to imagine that Mion had some terrible disease that killed men and thus made Mion impossible to marry off. _Eh, who cares? Mion looks healthy enough,_ thought Ichirou. Ichirou didn't seem to have much concern for his son's well-being if he actually thought that Mion could harbor such a terrible disease.

Akane continued. "My plan is this. Seeing as how you are my daughter's ride and seeing as how your son is with her, we remove the ride, thus giving them some much needed alone time. In other words, ditch them here."

Ichirou didn't really like the plan. "I don't know… my son will get pretty angry with me later on…"

"Do it," said Akane, ending any potential for debate or discussion of modifying the plan. Ichirou resigned himself to leaving his son with Mion here in Okinomiya. But he figured it could be worse, his son could be enslaved here by a really overbearing woman.

"And one more thing," continued Akane. "There will be dinner at the Sonozaki Estate and my mother has asked me to invite your family."

Ichirou was surprised that the old woman would do such a thing, although she did seem to respond favorably to his son. "We would be honored. Thank you," said Ichirou, although he wasn't sure that he liked his son's relationship issues now being in the Sonozaki domain instead of his own.

Kasai could only shake his head at the blatant meddling going on by both the adult Maebara's and the adult Sonozaki's. He silently apologized to Mion for his inability to keep everyone out. Little did he know, even Shion was meddling with Mion's relationship with Keiichi. Kasai hoped that things would go smoothly regardless, but these kinds of tampering seldom ever do even if they are successful.

Meanwhile, Keiichi and Mion were now in the park and had just sat down on a bench. They made some minor conversation but silence soon replaced it. Mion wondered why Keiichi had suddenly gotten quiet. But when she looked over at the brown haired youth next to her, it became apparent that he had fallen asleep. The day's events must've worn him out and she silently apologized to Keiichi for making him wake up so early. However, Mion received karmic justice in the form of Keiichi's sleeping head falling on her shoulder.

"Eeep!" gasped Mion. This was now an embarrassing situation for her and she began blushing heavily. But as her eyes fell upon Keiichi's sleeping face, she calmed down. It seemed to her that Keiichi's face often both invoked a maelstrom of emotions in her as well as having a huge calming effect. "Kei-chan? Are you really asleep?" asked Mion in a whispered tone.

Keiichi made no response; it seemed he was in a deep slumber. Mion continued speaking in a whispered tone, she would use this chance to talk to him in a way that she was too shy to do while he was awake. "I really hope you'll stay asleep Kei-chan because I'm going to say something that's pretty embarrassing for me. But if you somehow hear me then I don't think I'll mind too much. First, thank you so much for the doll. I really wanted it and I'm glad you figured it out." Mion began to hug the doll a little tighter. "But it's not really even about the doll; I just wanted a gift from you, one that acknowledged that I was a girl. There has been a few times where I felt that if I could be given one wish, it would be to start all over again from when I first met you Kei-chan. So I could act more like a girl and have you notice me more in that way. I know it doesn't help when I enslave you but after today, I'm really glad. I don't think I'll ever need to wish to start over ever again; it looks like you realize that I am a girl and that makes me really glad. It makes me really glad because if you noticed that then I hope you might notice how I feel about you. But if you know how I feel about you then why haven't we been able to go past being friends? I want to be more than friends Kei-chan but I guess it's my fault. I'm brash in so many places where it doesn't matter and shy the one place where it does." Mion then shifted her head to rest it on Keiichi's. They looked like two birds resting their heads on the other for warmth. "But hopefully Kei-chan, before this week ends, I'll be able to tell you. My enslavement of you isn't as good as magical love magatamas but hopefully it will be enough of an excuse, enough to tell you Kei-chan that I… love you. I love you Kei-chan, with all of my heart." Mion then closed her eyes, taking in the warmth of the boy she loved as she too drifted off into sleep. Although Mion wanted to hold Keiichi, she just held her doll tighter instead.

Unknown to Mion was a light blush on Keiichi's face. His head remained nestled in the warmth between Mion's shoulder and her cheek. The young couple remained in this loving way, possible only when they were unconscious, for several hours.

Soon it became 2 P.M. and Keiichi began to groggily awaken. His vision was a blur, but he felt warm and totally at peace. Even though he had no covers with which to further cover himself, he felt like a person that had decided to sleep in on a lazy weekend. But then he noticed a strand of green hair dangling down in front of his eyes. He had a bad feeling about this, and he slowly moved his eyes to his left, taking care not to move his body at all. And then he saw it, resting down on his head was a sleeping Mion. He jerked instantly, bumping his head against Mion's.

"Ow, damn it," said Mion. "What the heck Kei-chan? Why did you bump into me?"

Keiichi thought carefully for a moment. He wondered if Mion didn't realize that she had fallen asleep on him, not realizing himself that he had fallen asleep on her first. He decided to play it cool, "AHAHAHAH!" laughed Keiichi awkwardly. "Sorry about that Mion, it's just uh… we should probably meet up with my parents in front of the Angel Mort. They're probably already waiting for us."

Mion suddenly realized that they were an hour late, forgetting all about her little rest with Keiichi. "Crap! You're right Kei-chan, we're late! Let's go!" Mion really didn't want to keep Keiichi's parents waiting. Although the Maebara's were different from her family, she imagined that all families had a grudge against tardiness. She ran straight for the Angel Mort with Keiichi following close behind.

When the pair finally arrived at the Angel Mort, Keiichi's parents were nowhere to be seen. "Hmm, Kei-chan. Do you have any idea where your folks are?" said Mion. Keiichi simply shrugged. "Well I'll go inside and ask Shion; maybe they left a message for us." Mion then went inside.

Keiichi stayed outside, he had a sneaking suspicion that his parents ditched them here. His parents often went away on trips, leaving him to fend for himself with no prior warning. They were the perfect stereotypical parents that were nowhere to be found when something terrifying happened to the lonely teenage child in a horror movie. Keiichi wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here, sans the horror aspect of course.

Mion quickly came back out. "Apparently your parents did leave a message," said Mion. "They had something to do and told us to just have lunch without them." Keiichi wasn't surprised in the least. "Also, they took the car with them and we have to walk back to Hinamizawa on our own."

Keiichi was now infuriated. His parents had done it again; they had left him to fend for himself except now it was worse because Mion was with him. "Damn my parents. They're always doing this. Ack! And now two days straight, I have to walk all the way from Okinomiya back to Hinamizawa."

Mion just grinned devilishly at him. "Now, now Kei-chan. It won't be all that bad, because now I can exercise my control over you some more. Hehehe…" said Mion.

Keiichi could do nothing but accept his enslavement as a fact of life. "Please Mion, just when we walk back to Hinamizawa, don't trip again."

Mion blushed but instantly recomposed herself. "All right Kei-chan, I promise I won't trip or fall down. But Oji-san makes no promises that you won't have to carry me."

Keiichi nodded. "I suppose it can't be helped. But next time! You'll have to carry me! Ahahaha."

"Only if you manage to beat me in a penalty game Kei-chan," replied Mion. "But you'll really have to increase your skills to be able to do that. Ahahahaha."

"Tch. I just wasn't serious last time. The next time, I'll beat you for sure!"

"You seemed pretty serious to me Kei-chan. You were gloating about how you were going to turn me into some kind of short skirt wearing little girl." Mion seemed to have forgotten that she wore Shion's short skirt earlier today. "But you weren't serious enough Kei-chan! That's why I won and got you as a slave while you got to taste the salty tears of your own defeat. Ahahahaha!"

"Pfft. You know what they say Mion, the bigger they are the harder they…" Keiichi made a popping sound with his mouth to accentuate his point. "And there's nothing bigger than a self-proclaimed goddess like you Mion. Ahahaha!"

Mion scoffed. "Hearing you make a fool out of yourself is making me hungry Kei-chan. Let's go inside the Angel Mort and get some lunch." Keiichi gulped a little, hoping that Mion wouldn't make him repeat the events of yesterday that involved a certain dairy product. But Mion had already entered the Angel Mort; he had no choice but to follow. He was getting rather hungry after all, at this point he didn't care if there was another trap made to embarrass him waiting for him in the restaurant.

Inside the Angel Mort were the standard waitresses wearing their standard outfits. Keiichi was no longer in awe by them. He thought that Mion looked a lot prettier than anyone here and that was just with her in her casual clothes. Keiichi then cringed, his very core was shaken. Being attracted to the idea of Mion in a maid outfit or cute sailor outfit was perfectly fine, nothing wrong with that, he was after all a healthy young male. But then he realized that he was attracted more to Mion in her normal clothes that showed nothing and even concealed her sizable chest, than to these attractive waitresses that wore very revealing outfits. Keiichi began to realize that there was something wrong with him, something terribly and horrifically wrong. Some feeling was eating away inside of him, a feeling that he found very unnatural, a feeling he didn't think he was capable of having for another person much less Sonozaki Mion the tomboy. For him, it felt like a sickness, a deep perversion, especially since he felt it for his best friend. But anyone else would've seen it as a perfectly normal thing for a man to feel for a woman. The feeling is often known as lo--.

"Kei-chan, what do you want to eat?" said Mion, she was holding a menu in her hand.

Keiichi himself had a menu in front of him. He cursed himself for his deep thinking; it often seemed to make him unaware of things. "No clue," said Keiichi. He didn't eat real food here often and had no idea what was good, but considering how the Angel Mort specialized in pastries and desserts, it was unlikely that a real meal here could be good at all. "I'll just have what you're having."

"Hmmm all right," replied Mion. A waitress came by and Mion gave her and Keiichi's order. However, she had something else to ask the waitress. "Hey. Have you seen my sister, Shion? I don't see her working here right now even though I saw her just a few minutes ago."

"Ah yes," said the waitress. "Shion had to leave early today. She said she had to plan a surprise for her sist--." The waitress stopped herself from continuing that sentence. "She had to leave early," said the waitress, replacing her previous statement. The waitress gave a polite smile and went to fulfill Mion's order.

"Eh, I was just curious. I don't really care what Shion's doing," said Mion nonchalantly to Keiichi. Keiichi didn't care too much either, although he did hear something about a surprise or something.

Keiichi was just dreading the walk home; he prayed that nothing unexpected or tedious would happen. Soon enough the waitress returned with both of their food. For now he would just enjoy this bland meal with Mion here in the Angel Mort.

"Man, Mion," said Keiichi. "You should probably tell your uncle to focus less on the sweets and skimpy outfits. This food tastes like crap!" Keiichi was joking around but he also meant it, he was that kind of person.

"This place is just for the eye-candy and sweets after all, you said so yourself," said Mion. "Besides, only idiots eat the real food here." Mion said this knowing full well that Keiichi and she were eating this 'real food'.

Keiichi laughed at her retort. It used to be that when she'd joke like this, it felt like he was hanging out with a guy. But these days, things felt rather different between then even though things were almost exactly the same, save for a few minor differences. Keiichi noticed that Mion still held onto the doll he bought her earlier today even while she ate. He was glad that he was able to find her such a great gift, especially after having given her that lame knife earlier in the day, but he found it in a garbage dump so it couldn't be helped.

It didn't take long for Keiichi and Mion to finish eating. And once again Keiichi had to pay the bill. He planned to win the next penalty game and have her buy him food, except he'd order tons of expensive food. He wouldn't even have to feel bad because Mion was rich, whereas his family was not rich, at least not anymore.

Keiichi and Mion were now standing outside of the Angel Mort, contemplating their next course of action. "What now Kei-chan?" said Mion.

"No idea," said Keiichi. "But I suppose we have no choice but to trek all the way back to Hinamizawa, and we might as well. I still haven't picked up my bike that I abandoned yesterday."

"Ah…" said Mion, she began to feel a little guilty for making Keiichi abandon his bike yesterday. She had even faked being injured; it was just part of Shion's plan for Mion to forcefully grab Keiichi's attention. "Kei-chan? I'm sorry for making you leave your bike yesterday…"

Keiichi was surprised at Mion's apology, and even more surprised by her despondent face as she cast her head down while holding the doll. The sight could only be described of in one way, moe. With a sight like that, Keiichi couldn't help but accept her apology, even though he hadn't asked nor expected one. "Don't worry about it Mion. As long as you come with me to pick it up then I'll consider it even…for now," said Keiichi, making sure to emphasize that he would get her back later.

Mion perked up instantly; glad to see Keiichi's sense of rivalry with her hadn't died out. "All right then! To the place where we left Kei-chan's bike!" said Mion as she stretched her arm completely and pointed to a random direction.

"Um Mion?" asked Keiichi. "Isn't the way to Hinamizawa this way?" Keiichi pointed to the exact opposite of where Mion was still pointing.

Mion suddenly became embarrassed; after all she was supposed to know both Okinomiya and Hinamizawa like the back of her hand. "Uh right of course. Good catch Kei-chan but Oji-san was just testing you. Ahahaha!"

Keiichi just stared at her, his mouth open in disbelief. He couldn't believe how far Mion was willing to go to save face, and for such a minor thing too._ Mion probably just refuses to lose to me in anything,_ thought Keiichi. This was definitely like her, and he laughed a little. Mion could definitely be cute when she made a fool of herself in certain times like this. This time was especially cute considering how far Mion's arm was stretched while her other arm held onto her doll.

Soon enough they started their way back to Hinamizawa and towards Keiichi's bike. Keiichi cursed his parents for making him walk this much; he didn't even want to come to Okinomiya initially. But after seeing how happy Mion was when he bought her the doll, he didn't mind having made the trip. Still, walking all the way back to Hinamizawa was an unnecessary and tedious inconvenience. Once again, he silently cursed his parents.

By the time Mion and Keiichi reached his bike, the sky was an orangey glow, the signal of the setting sun.

"Nice! My bike is still here, just where I left it," said Keiichi. "Now I can just ride all the way home. Uwahahaha! So long Mion!" Keiichi had mounted his bike and prepared to ride it the rest of the way, leaving Mion behind.

"Stop!" said Mion. "You are my slave, and Oji-san demands that you give up your bike. _I_ will ride it the rest of the way back."

Keiichi and his bike both toppled over upon hearing Mion's command. He was just joking, he had no intention of stranding Mion here without an escort, but now he feared that he was going to be punished for it. So he did the first thing that came to his mind, no matter how hackneyed it was. First he stood up again with his bike.

"Of course my lady," said Keiichi with his head bowed. "Your ride awaits." Keiichi positioned his arm to direct Mion to his bike, similar to what a chauffer would do for a limousine, except this was a bike. _Please work. Have pity on this pathetic slave. I'm even making a fool out of myself,_ thought Keiichi.

Mion blushed a little, but Keiichi didn't notice as his eyes were aimed directly down to the ground. Of course, Mion had also been joking before; she knew perfectly well that Keiichi wasn't going to leave her here. Mion recalled when she and Keiichi were both almost late for school. She had decided to race Keiichi to the school and she was winning, having caught him unaware, not that it would have mattered much considering _his_ athleticism. Mion had gloated over her lead on Keiichi until she tripped and fell on her butt. But even though they were in a battle, Keiichi still offered her his hand and dragged them both to school, and they even made it in time. She still didn't warn him about Satoko's trap, however. Mion smiled fondly over the memory. Keiichi was that kind of person, he wouldn't have left her here in this forest now. Mion cherished those memories, and she cherished yesterday and today as well. But of course, it would've been uncharacteristic of her to not make Keiichi sweat at least a little over his little joke. But he caught her by surprise with that gay display of his.

"Ahahaha Kei-chan," said Mion. "Thanks, but on second thought… I'd rather race you!" Mion began sprinting back to Hinamizawa, leaving Keiichi in the dust.

"Ah no fair!" said Keiichi. "I wasn't ready, and I have a bike to carry with me!" Keiichi chased after her, his bike being dragged along with him.

"Excuses Kei-chan!" said Mion. "If you want to win then you have to be serious! You can't let such petty things as _bikes_ and _readiness_ stand in your way. Battles don't wait for your excuses!" Mion was cackling over her lead but then she stopped.

Keiichi also slowed to a halt. They had both heard something out in this empty forest. It sounded like the scurrying of little feet, little feet that belonged to a mischievous blonde haired ten year old.

"Don't tell me…" said Keiichi, now aware of where he and Mion were.

"Yeah, we're in Satoko's domain. Take cover!" said Mion.

A disembodied yet amplified voice of a little girl surrounded Mion and Keiichi. It was haughty and it was laughing. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! It looks like two little mice have stumbled into my playground. No one gave you permission to come here but I am a hospitable lady so I don't have a problem with it. But since you're in my playground, you'll just have to play with me. I'll start with the brown mouse first!"

Mion and Keiichi just stood there dumbfounded; they couldn't find the source of Satoko's voice. It echoed throughout the forest, bouncing about the trees. This was straight out of some horror movie, except for the fact that the trap master was their close friend Satoko. Mion knew she wouldn't be harmed but Keiichi was worried. Satoko never showed him mercy when it came to her traps. And in this forest right now, he was being hunted like game.

"Activate it!" shouted Satoko to some unknown person.

"Watch out Kei-chan!" shouted Mion.

A sturdy looking log then swung from the canopies, hitting Keiichi right in the back of the head. The collision from the log launched Keiichi right into Mion. Mion gave a loud yelp as she raised her arms over her head, protecting her doll from the coming impact of Keiichi's body. There was a loud thump as Mion and Keiichi's bodies collided into each other, knocking them both onto the ground. Keiichi's face was now only a few inches away from Mion's.

Mion could feel her heart begin to beat rapidly. She let go of the doll, it would be okay. On top of her right now was an unconscious Keiichi, whose face was only a few inches away and parallel to her own. She could feel the heat between their bodies being exchanged. _Such wide shoulders_, thought Mion. She moved her arms as if to hug this sleeping Keiichi. It wasn't convenient for her to do so in the park but it would be easy for her to do so now. But just as she was about to hold him, Keiichi instantly propped himself up. He had only been momentarily stunned.

"SATOKO!" shouted Keiichi angrily. "I know where you are and I'm going to get you, you evil brat!" Keiichi began to head off into a seemingly random direction.

"Only if you can catch me Keiichi-san! Ohohoho."

Mion just watched Keiichi run off, disappointed that she missed her chance to hold Keiichi. _Damn, maybe next time_, thought Mion. _I'll have to contract Satoko's services and have her knock Kei-chan back into me, preferably unconscious next time… Wait! The fact that I have such a stupid idea as a plan must mean that Shion is with Satoko._ Mion grabbed her doll and began chasing after Keiichi, he was sure to find Satoko, and Shion would undoubtedly be there.

Keiichi finished catching up to the fleeing Satoko, who was now backed up against a tree. Keiichi approached her slowly. "Bad Satoko, you really shouldn't lay traps for your sempai like that."

Even though Satoko was now backed up against a tree, she still held a defiant look. "Just what exactly are you going to do?" spat Satoko. "Punish me?"

Keiichi had a wicked grin. "Hehehe… what punishment indeed…" said Keiichi. He then began to shout dramatically, "Prepare for your punishment Satoko! THE FINGER SNAP OF GREAT JUSTICE!" His hand was now in front of Satoko's face, his index finger primed to snap out of its 'locked' position behind his thumb.

However, before Keiichi was able to dish out his punishment on the mischievous Satoko, he noticed a shadow creep up behind him as Satoko's face changed from that of defiance to one that seemed to scream 'you're going to get it now'. It was Shion, Satoko's guardian and 'nee-nee' who always stopped Keiichi from being able to give out his retribution.

"Just what do you think you're doing, _Kei-chan?_" said Shion. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to hurt innocent little Satoko now would you?"

Keiichi sighed, letting his finger snapping hand fall down to his side. He had lost; Satoko had won… as always. "Nothing at all, I was just attempting to talk to Satoko about the _finer_ points of courtesy," said Keiichi. It was an obvious quip but that was all he could muster as a last point of aggression against Satoko. There was no use trying to explain the situation to Shion, Satoko was infallible in her eyes. But unknown to Keiichi, in this case, Shion was the one to instigate the event, working in tandem with Satoko to literally bring him and Mion closer together.

"Why would you do that Kei-chan? There's no one more courteous than little Satoko," said Shion. "Why, she even gave you a little shove so that you could give Mion a hug."

"What are you talking about Shion?" said Keiichi, as he glared at his best friend's twin. "I was knocked straight into Mion, there was no hugging involved."

Shion gave a frown. "Awww. So we weren't successful after all. Oh well."

Mion, who had since walked into the scene, blushed. Her head seemed to inflate into a red balloon since she knew that she had almost done what Shion intended. Mion had even wanted to, and had Keiichi been stunned for a few more seconds, she would've done so.

Satoko noticed Mion holding a doll. "Wow, that doll's so cute Mion," said Satoko. "Don't tell me that brute Keiichi bought it for you." Keiichi's head tilted to the side in disbelief, he didn't consider himself a brute at all.

Mion simply blushed while Shion decided to speak for her. "Yep, that's right Satoko. Our shy little Kei-chan here finally gathered the nerves to buy Sis a gift." Shion was smiling, even though her 'hugging' plan had failed at least this day of Keiichi's enslavement wouldn't be a total waste.

"Keiichi, shy?" said Satoko. "Don't make me laugh. Keiichi's incapable of feeling any other emotion besides those belonging to a brute."

Shion nodded at what Satoko had said for a reason that Keiichi couldn't comprehend. "You're probably right Satoko," said Shion. "After all, if Kei-chan wasn't a brute then he would've taken Mion somewhere nice already." Keiichi didn't understand, was Shion insinuating something?

Mion's face was now indistinguishable from a tomato. _Shion you idiot!_, thought Mion. _You weren_'_t supposed to be this blatant! All you were supposed to do was give advice and help from the shadows when necessary. Now you're no better than Kei-chan's dad!_

"Hohoho, well I've had enough of messing Keiichi up today. Let's go Shion," said Satoko as she began to walk off.

"Sounds fine. Rika and Hanyuu have probably started making dinner, we should give them a hand," said Shion. But then she remembered something. "One more thing! Sis, mom and dad are at grandma's and told me to tell you to bring Kei-chan over for dinner. His parents are there too!" Shion then ran off with Satoko in tow, grinning madly. _Sis and Kei-chan, even if Kei-chan himself is dense hopefully his parents will be able to get things rolling,_ thought Shion. She clearly didn't know Keiichi's dad at all; if anything, Ichirou's constant insistence and meddling was more likely to turn Keiichi off women forever.

Keiichi and Mion were now alone in the forest again. Keiichi was stumped, he had no idea why his parents were having dinner with the Sonozaki's, his parents had never even met any member of the Sonozaki's before today. "So I'm eating over at your house today Mion?"

Mion woke up from her thoughts. "Ahaha, yeah sure looks that way," replied Mion. "I wonder what's going on over there." Mion was excited; the implications of such an event were completely in her favor. It seems that all of the pieces were coming together. Unfortunately the most important piece, Keiichi, wasn't yet to where Mion wanted in terms of his relationship with her. But after today's events, she was excited. Mion even entertained thoughts of being able to share a real kiss with Keiichi and a confession before the end of the day. But they would have to get back to her place first. "Kei-chan! Did you forget about our race? The destination is now my house and it's a penalty game, winner gets to draw on the loser's face!" Mion sprinted full speed to her house, cackling all the while.

"Wait a second!" shouted Keiichi. "I still need to get my bike!" Mion didn't seem to pay attention to him as she still continued to run off. _Damn. It looks like I'll have to abandon my bike again_, thought Keiichi as he began sprinting after Mion.

* * *

Akane and Oryou met the young pair outside of the Sonozaki Estate.

"Kusukusu. What did you do Mion? Keiichi looks tired," said Akane, an amused look on her face.

Mion finally noticed Keiichi panting heavily. She wondered how Keiichi had gotten so tired; she hadn't even broken a sweat, Mion decided she would to train him harder this week seeing how unfit he was. "Well we ran over here," said Mion.

"I see," said Akane. "Well let's go inside, dinner is almost ready."

"Indeed," said Oryou. "I don't care to stand out here in the cold air much longer."

Inside the Sonozaki Estate was a long chabudai table; already seated around it were Mion's dad and Keiichi's parents. Ichirou had a huge grin and was waving to Keiichi rapidly, as if to tell him that they won an expensive vacation. Oryou then seated herself at the top of the chabudai while Akane seated herself with her husband. The only two remaining seats were next to each other, Mion and Keiichi would have to sit next to each other. Keiichi had a bad feeling about all of this but Mion was really ecstatic. Mion was grateful that her family was helping her out so much, but she was rather surprised that her grandmother even agreed to it.

The housekeeper brought food to the table and they all began to eat dinner. Keiichi marveled at all of the food, it was more like a banquet than dinner.

Mion, ever the tomboy, began speaking with food full in her mouth. "Grandma, why did you agree to a dinner here?"

Oryou scoffed. "Blame your insolent mother and father. They strong-armed me into this," said Oryou.

Akane laughed. "Kusukusukusu. Oh mother, you only too easily agreed. Has the current demon head of the Sonozaki Family grown soft I wonder?"

Oryou refused to meet the gaze of everyone here as she coughed.

Mion was so glad. She knew of course that her grandmother approved of her relationship with Keiichi; after all, her onibaba even told her to mingle with the newcomer to Hinamizawa long before either had even met Keiichi. But to see her grandmother so easily drop her public façade, it was so heartening. Mion's grandmother effectively disinherited Mion's mother for something that wasn't so different, to see her grandmother not oppose her relationship with Keiichi at all was so wonderful. It was as though everyone here, her parents, her grandmother, and Keiichi's parents were trying to help her win Keiichi's heart.

Mion enjoyed dinner with everyone here, she laughed and engaged readily into the conversations. But she noticed that Keiichi seemed a little distant; he laughed, talked, and stuffed himself just as much as her but there was something off about him. Nothing bad, there was just something off. She would need to ask him later. Soon enough, dinner had ended.

Keiichi stood up. "I'll be right back everyone, I just need to get some air for a bit," said Keiichi. It was a pretty rude thing of him to do but this was Keiichi after all. Oryou ignored the slight against her.

"I'll come with you," said Mion, who had also stood up, placing her doll on her seat. She wasn't eager to leave Keiichi's side on a night like this, things were so perfect and she wanted to know what was off about him.

"Huh? Yeah, sure," said Keiichi as he walked out of the house, Mion following close behind him.

"I wonder what that's about," said Ichirou. Everyone just glared at him.

Outside of the Sonozaki house, Mion and Keiichi silently walked together. But when Keiichi reached the body of water that surrounded the Sonozaki Estate, he stopped and Mion followed suit. He looked at the moon reflected in the water, it was beautiful.

Mion looked at him; Keiichi was staring deeply at the body of water. _Damn it_, Mion thought. _I knew that dinner was too much! Stupid family for meddling!_ Mion seemed to have forgotten her earlier appreciation of her family's support. _I'm just going to end this and ask Kei-chan what's wrong._ But before she could, Keiichi spoke up and Mion saw that he looked so happy.

"Mion, all of this, it was a really great day," said Keiichi. But then his face turned grim. "Mion, I need to tell you something, something bad about me."

Mion just looked on at him. She couldn't help but feel that she knew whatever secret he was going to tell her, which was odd considering how she never saw Keiichi look so grim. She just looked on at him; she knew that what he was going to tell her wasn't going to change anything between them. It didn't before…

"Before I came here to Hinamizawa, I lived in a city. You know that much, but you don't know why my family left. We left because of me. I was an egotistical and selfish kid. When school began to bore me, I began doing something else. I took an interest in model guns. You know those labels that say, 'Don't Shoot at People'? Well I did that, I shot at people. And not just people, but little kids." Keiichi sighed. "Eventually I shot a little girl in the eye, blinding it, I felt so bad that I had to tell my parents. My dad beat the shit out of me. Then my parents took me to turn myself in. And that's why." Keiichi was finished with his story. He feared that Mion, his best friend, would be angry at him for having kept that secret for so long. If anything, he was a pollutant to the innocence of Mion and all the other club members.

Mion just looked at him. She had definitely heard this story before and it didn't faze her that time, whenever that was. But now, her eyes were teary. "Why are you telling me this Kei-chan?" said Mion, her voice seemed to break a bit. "Just when things are going so well, why are you telling me this? Do you want to push me away? Is that it?" Mion then wiped her eyes, they had gotten incredibly teary. "Fine then, since you told me a story, I'll tell you one too." Mion's voice suddenly became firm and resolute. "Before you came here Kei-chan, this place sucked. I used to complain to my onibaba all the time about how boring this place was, how there was no one my age. You'd think that being the heir of a powerful family would be fun, but it isn't. It sucks, especially when the place you supposedly lord over is full of old people and all you do is bluff anyway. It got even worse when the Hinamizawa murders occurred, and Satoko and Satoshi were ostracized and I couldn't do anything. I wanted to leave, just leave this place, go move in with my parents in Okinomiya or whatever but I just wanted to leave."

"But then you came here Kei-chan," continued Mion, her voice suddenly becoming cheerful. "Suddenly everyday became fun. I couldn't wait to walk with you to school, I couldn't wait for lunch, and I couldn't wait for the club activities. I looked forward to every day and I couldn't feel bored or sad or helpless, especially with Kei-chan wearing a maid outfit to cheer me up. With you here, I didn't need anything else. I was happy just to be with you. And its not just me but all the other club members too. We all believe in you. It seems like even when everything is hopeless, you can cheer everyone up. Even when fate itself is bearing down on us, you make us believe that we can fight fate. Because of you, during the last Watangashi, I found the courage to protect all of the club members. I shielded you all from Takano's gun because I knew you were behind me. You're important to all of us here Kei-chan. But you're especially important to _me_. _And that's why_." The last three words that Mion said seemed to leave something unsaid in the air.

Keiichi looked into Mion's eyes with his misty ones. Mion's eyes seemed to be pleading to him for something. Since Mion had just poured her heart out to him, he realized that he'd have to do the same. "Well then, I won't be outdone Mion," said Keiichi, Mion looked at him questioningly. "Since you spoke from your heart, I'll just have to outdo you there. Otherwise I might lose my Magician of Words title."

"…But after coming here to Hinamizawa," said Keiichi, seemingly continuing from his story, "I met a ton of fun people. I even got to join this really awesome after-school club. Even though I was constantly abused and made to wear humiliating clothes, or because of it, I got to have lots of fun. The members of the club are cute girls too. There's Rena whose 'takeithome' mode is always tons of fun stopping. There's Satoko whose traps always keep me on my toes. There's Rika whose moe always leaves me in tears. And there's Hanyuu whose presence just gives everyone hope. Although to tell you the truth; the club president is very noisy, likes to fight over stuff, and completely bossy. She even made me her slave for a week just for losing a stupid game." It was pretty obvious to Mion who Keiichi was talking about this time but she remained silent, Keiichi always started off his speeches rudely but ended them in amazing ways. "But because of her, I've never been bored since I came here. This village doesn't even have a hamburger stand, ice cream shop, vending machines, or an arcade; basically no place fun. And yet, with her I have had more fun here than anywhere else. With her, I've had a renewed appreciation for life every single day." Keiichi started bumbling with his words at this point and could no longer maintain eye contact, it seems even the Magician of Words could mess up a speech. "And um eheh, I enjoy walking with her to school everyday. I-I wouldn't mind if she asked me to wear that country maid outfit she bought for me yesterday, I actually enjoy dressing up just to see her happy face. To tell you the truth, I…like her… I like _you_ Mion." As he finished, Keiichi couldn't help but look into the misty eyes looking back at him.

Mion couldn't help but hear those words over and over again in her mind. Never in her best dreams was Keiichi the first say those words, it had always been her. No scenario that she had ever dreamt had Keiichi initiate everything. Yet now, Keiichi had just told Mion what she had always wanted to hear. Reality could be better than dreams it seemed.

"Kei-chan…" was all Mion could mutter. The moment was perfect; Mion could feel it in her heart as she looked into the eyes of Keiichi as he looked back at her. The night sky was perfect, the moon was being beautifully reflected in the stream in front of them, and even the cicadas were quiet today. Although the fact that Keiichi was the first to say the words was different than in all of her scenarios, the setting right now was precisely what she had always dreamed for her kiss with Keiichi. And since Keiichi had just finished telling Mion that he liked her, she had the perfect excuse. She would do it; she had every intention to kiss Keiichi right now. But just as she was about to move in to kiss him, she was preempted, Keiichi's lips were already on hers. Mion was surprised, she could feel her heart beat wildly. It was such a pleasant feeling that Mion prepared to lose herself against Keiichi's touch. She began to close her eyes so as to let nothing else distract her from this kiss. But just before her eyes closed, Keiichi suddenly broke off, embarrassment was apparent on his face.

"Ahaha. Sorry Mion," said Keiichi, he was blushing madly. "I'm not sure what came over me."

"You're too noisy..." said Mion. And then she moved in and touched Keiichi's lips with her own, locking them both, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, finally closing her eyes. Keiichi was shocked; his eyes were wide open even though he was the one to initiate the first kiss. But Mion's embrace soon calmed him and he too closed his eyes. He hesitated but for a moment until he wrapped his own arms around her waist. Neither Keiichi nor Mion let themselves feel anything else but the kiss. The two stayed like this against the backdrop of a beautiful moon being reflected by a body of flowing water. They were both perfectly still and didn't move an inch for fear of somehow breaking this moment. Mion could feel Keiichi's heart beating rapidly with hers. Their long-delayed love was finally coming to fruition. As they kissed, both of them thought the same thing, _I don't want this to end_. For Mion and Keiichi right now, there was no better feeling in the world.

* * *

"There is no worse feeling in the world than killing someone who wants to die," said Keiichi as he wiped the blood off of his butterfly knife. Slumped on a chair in front of him was a middle-aged Rena.

Right now Rena was dressed in a woman's suit. Anyone that knew her mother would've said that Rena was a splitting image of her mother. This was ironic given that Rena had hated her mother for the longest time, and blamed her for breaking up their family. So it was ironic to see Rena dressed up in clothes that were identical to those that her mother wore as she left their home. Her old friends would've been able to figure it out though; it was because Rena had now hated herself. She hated what she had done 20 years ago, and so she took the appearance of the woman she hated most in the world. Rena hated what she did to her friends in Hinamizawa, but they were now dead, killed in a supposed volcanic gas leakage, the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. And right now, Rena was dead too, blood was flowing out of her neck.

"That Rena was really sad," said Keiichi, although no one else was there. He had finished cleaning his knife. Right now, he was inside of a lonely office building that sold insurance policies. Keiichi began to think back to what had happened just moments before.

Rena was sitting alone in the lonely office building. There were aisles upon aisles of empty desks, but everyone had already gone home. It was dark outside but Rena was still in the office building filling out paperwork. She sold insurance policies for a living, ironic given that everyone she loved and everyone that she had ever held dear had died in a freak accident. If people had known about that, no one would've bought insurance from her. She was a bad omen, a remnant of a place that had long since departed, a person who had been left behind. Suddenly she slammed the table; tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Why am I still alive!?" said Rena, frustrated tears were dropping easily onto all of her paperwork. "Damn it all!" But just as quickly as tears dropped from her face, she instantly became solemn, tears no longer falling. "I'm sorry everyone. I don't think I can continue living anymore. I want to be where my friends are; Rika, Satoko, Mii-chan, and Keiich-kun. I don't want to be here anymore. I have nothing here. For all intents and purposes, Rena already died 20 years ago; she's just not with her friends. I want to go to a vivid Hinamizawa, a place where all my friends have club-activities all the time. And yet, I am here in this purgatory, punishment for my sins 20 years ago. Why did I do those things…? Rika and Satoko, I hope you're keeping each other from being lonely wherever you are. You too: Mii-chan, Keiichi-kun."

Rena sighed as she looked at her wrists; there were many white hair-thin scars and several fresh red ones. "I bet if Mii-chan was here, she'd try to comfort me by saying something like, 'I'm sorry Rena that I haven't been there for you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to ease your pain. But you can't give up! You have to live on!' I'm sorry Mii-chan but I don't know if I can. If Keiichi-kun was here, he'd probably say something like, 'Don't throw your life away! There is something wonderful in every life, no matter how scarred. To throw away one's life is the worst sin! So live on! Be cool! If you don't then I'll be really pissed off!' It's not that easy Keiichi-kun, I've already sinned before, and I'm willing to do one last one if it would grant me peace." Rena then recalled their last meeting, a penalty game on top of the school's roof. "You're a liar Keiichi-kun. You said that if I won the penalty game then you would greet me everyday with 'Good Morning' and every evening with 'Good Night'. You were supposed to fill me with lots of kindness… lots of joy… I know I didn't swing down the cleaver, but any referee would've called the game in my favor. We were supposed to always be together if either of us had won. And yet, you're gone now. I should be gone too; I… love you Keiichi-kun. Why do I have to be alone?"

Suddenly she heard a footstep behind her, it wasn't Oyashiro-sama. Oyashiro-sama hadn't appeared ever since that day. Instead it was _him_, a still 17 year old Maebara Keiichi, looking no different than that day 20 years ago. Keiichi carried a very solemn face. Rena knew at once in her mind that he was a ghost, there was no other possibility.

"Why are you here Keiichi-kun?" asked Rena, she wasn't scared or surprised at all. Perhaps she had already seen many apparitions of her friends as they tried to convince her to stay alive. "Are you here to tell me to continue living?"

Keiichi gave a single shake of his head, indicating a negative. "No," he said.

"Then maybe, you're here to take me to that vivid Hinamizawa?" asked Rena with a glint of hope in her eyes.

"That is my intention," replied Keiichi. He was not the talkative man Rena remembered from 20 years ago, but she didn't care.

"Then please, take me there." Rena closed her eyes and stretched out her arms, as if waiting to be whisked away to a better place. "Keiichi-kun, I-…" The last thing she heard was something flipping open.

Keiichi snapped back to where he was now, his blade already clean and Rena already dead. "Why don't you give me a challenge?" said Keiichi. "This Rena _wanted_ to die; it almost made me feel bad killing her." Keiichi did not appear to be talking to anyone, at the moment there was just him and Rena's corpse. "I am sick of killing these weak Satokos, Rikas, Shmions," Keiichi laughed at the portmanteau of the names of the Sonozaki twins, "and Keiichis. I want to fight someone like that Shmion two worlds ago. That was fun; she even had a real katana. But she was still stupid just the same. Everyone is stupid!"

Keiichi's face now carried a maniacal look. But still he continued talking in this lonely building. "Everyone is stupid! Especially this Rena, she lived for 20 years? That's idiotic! She deserved to die, everyone in Hinamizawa does. It's their entire fault! Anyone that thinks they can live past June 1983 is stupid and unworthy of life! That includes me. I understand that now, I've understood since that last world." Keiichi began cackling, "Ehehehehehehe. But before we all die, before every possible Hinamizawa is ended, please give me a challenge, someone to test my wits against. Another Keiichi would be awesome! A Keiichi that is strong-willed, not like every other Keiichi I've possessed, and who is just as smart as me. He needs to be loved by all his friends, and he needs to think that he loves his friends. I want to be able to tear apart the hopes of such a 'me', and show him that such hopes are STUPID!" Keiichi's hand was all cut now. During his demented speech, he hadn't noticed his knife cutting into his hand as he performed tricks with it, actually missing several times and causing cuts on his fleshy hand.

Suddenly Keiichi noticed a woman standing in the doorway of the office building. There was a look of horror on her face, she saw the dead Rena on the chair and a demented looking boy holding a bloody knife with a bloody hand, her mind made the obvious connection and she screamed.

"Damn," said Keiichi to himself. "It looks like I'll need to make my exit here. The next world had better be good; I'll go insane soon if it isn't. Hehehehehe." Keiichi then held his knife in his fist, perpendicular to his neck, and pushed it in. He was dead instantly.

* * *

I, who was curious, changed history.

I, who was curious, made you a different person.

I, who was curious, made you a monster.

I am sorry because even though it was I who was curious,

You are the one who has to receive the cat's punishment.


	5. You're already a couple Get a grip

**Chapter 4**

The Maebara's were now once again at home, the events of the day now behind them. Keiichi's mother, Aiko, had already gone upstairs to bed. Keiichi himself moved to follow her, preparing himself for sleep; after today, he wanted to wake up bright and early so that he could talk with Mion before school tomorrow. But right before he went upstairs to bed, his father, Ichirou, stopped him.

"I'm glad that you're getting along with Mion, Keiichi," said Ichirou, as he carried a peaceful look on his face, a stark contrast to the rather active man that tried to help Keiichi with his girl problems. "I'm glad that you're getting along with everyone in Hinamizawa. I'm glad that this place has made you such a happy person."

Keiichi was surprised at his dad's behavior right now. They just had such great fun at the Sonozaki Estate that it didn't make sense to Keiichi why his dad acting so seriously. He more expected his dad to jump around and shout about how his son had gotten to 'second base', although the truth of the matter was that Keiichi hadn't even really gotten to 'first'. But that was irrelevant, right now Keiichi was more curious as to why his dad had suddenly gotten so serious. "What's going on dad?" asked Keiichi,

"I'm glad because… Keiichi, I know you still blame yourself for that _incident_, but it was my fault as well," said Ichirou; he then gave a short sigh. "Aiko and I, we failed you as a parents, I'm sorry that I never recognized your emotional pleas in those days. It disgusts me to call myself a parent after letting you spiral down to such a level. If we hadn't put so much pressure on you, then maybe you wouldn't have made such a terrible sub-conscious call for help. And not just that, but I was so disinterested in my parental duties, I had forfeited looking after my own son… I'm sorry; it wasn't all your fault Keiichi. Everyone in the Maebara family was at fault."

At that very moment, Keiichi understood everything his father had done for him. Even today when his father had annoyingly pushed him and Mion together, it was done for him. Keiichi's father hadn't recognized his frustration; his emotions, many years ago. But now, Keiichi's father had recognized how he felt about Mion. That was why his father had worked so hard to help him and Mion get together. It seemed to Keiichi now that his father would never abandon his parental duties ever again. But then Keiichi also remembered how back during breakfast Mion helped him realize how great his family was. Seeing his father right now in this light, he knew that he could never be lonely, especially not with his parents supporting him.

"Dad…thank you. I understand everything now," said Keiichi. He then embraced his father. Ichirou was surprised but he soon embraced Keiichi back. They hadn't hugged each other since Keiichi was a very young boy. "I understand everything now. You and mom will always be there for me."

"The crucifixion cross will forever linger on our backs, but we continued to live," said Ichirou, Keiichi and him still in a father and son hug. "We acknowledged our sins, we carried the burden on our backs but I was afraid that it was too much for you, that you had lost the will to live. But after we moved to Hinamizawa, you cheered up. You made friends, you _played_. Even though a rural life has its inconveniences, you had finally regained your will to live." Keiichi began to understand where his 'magician of words' gene came from. "I've always wanted to tell you all of this before Keiichi, but you were still too young and still too hot-blooded to understand, but after today…" Keiichi's father suddenly broke from the hug with melodramatic tears on his face; the tears had instantly appeared out of nowhere. "My son has finally grown up! Soon Keiichi and Mion will be married and he will move out of his father's home and into the Sonozaki Estate. I couldn't be more proud!"

Keiichi's jaw dropped. His father and he were having such a beautiful moment and without a moment's notice, his father reverted back to his melodramatic self. "What are you talking about Dad?!" said Keiichi. "All Mion and I did was kiss and it wasn't for even that long!"

"I don't know anything about that kiss Keiichi," said Ichirou slyly. "But when Mion's family and your mother and I went out looking for you and Mion, we saw you and her sitting down and looking at the moon. Mion's head was resting on your shoulder and you two were holding hands, fingers-laced! So excuse your father if he got the wrong impression."

"Ugh, don't remind me of that. When you guys came, I was so embarrassed," said Keiichi. "I can only imagine what the Sonozaki's were thinking." Indeed, all of the adults had interrupted a rather intimate moment between Keiichi and Mion. They had enjoyed each other's presence as they looked on at the night sky. Of course, catching the tough Mion and prideful Keiichi in such a state could only cause the couple much embarrassment.

"Don't worry too much about that," said Ichirou. "From what I could see and hear: Akane was smiling, Mion's father laughed that weird laugh of his, and Oryou seemed to have a slight smile. Although with her grim face, it's hard to tell."

There was then an awkward silence between father and son. Keiichi broke it by simply saying a soft, "…thanks Dad."

"No problem Keiichi. I'm glad we moved to Hinamizawa," said Ichirou.

"Me too." Keiichi's sin now seemed like a distant memory. It would no longer have to burden him so much and his thoughts would no longer remain on that forgiven sin; at least for tonight, his thoughts would consist of a certain green haired beauty.

* * *

Mion was laying in her futon restlessly. She couldn't believe what had happened earlier in the night. Mion's face blushed just by recalling what had happened. First Keiichi had told her that he liked her, then they had a really short kiss, then a really long kiss, and then they just sat next to each other and held hands. Mion couldn't believe they had done all of that, it was so unlike her and it was so unlike Keiichi; she kept replaying the events over and over in her mind. Mion marveled at how all it took was a bunch of support from her and Keiichi's family as well as her giving Keiichi a really heart felt speech. On retrospect, Mion realized that quite a bit of effort was put into her and Keiichi's relationship upgrade.

"Thank you everyone," said Mion. Obviously no one was there, but she felt she had to say those words. Her appreciation for everyone just couldn't be understated. And as she thought of Keiichi once more, she held her doll tighter. The doll was given to her by the person of her affections and so it symbolized her relationship with Keiichi. Holding it while she attempted to sleep made her feel so blissful; Keiichi himself had even held her like this earlier that night. Everything between the two would change now, although she hoped it wouldn't change too much. Mion did enjoy embarrassing Keiichi after all, but maybe now she'd have to embarrass him in different ways… no, she was too shy for that. Regardless, Mion still had Keiichi as a slave for four more days. She'd find them something romantic to do, like a club activity or something. Mion began to grow flustered over what she could do with Keiichi as a couple. _Bastard Kei-chan_, thought Mion, _Damn you for changing everything! _But with the doll in her arms, Mion knew everything would work out. For now she would try to get some sleep, she wanted to be able to wake up early and walk with him to school right from his house as opposed to waiting for him by the watermill. _Tomorrow_, thought Mion, _tomorrow will be a brand new day. Wait up for me Kei-chan…_ And then Mion drifted off into sleep, with the doll given to her by Keiichi held tight in her arms. However, an ominous little trinket, also given to Mion by Keiichi, rested on the dressing cabinet seemingly forgotten due to the later events of the day.

The next day couldn't come soon enough for Mion and Keiichi, but the latter still found a way to sleep in, completely forgetting about school as he dreamt of the former, who was already inside of his house.

Mion was sitting in the main room along with Ichirou and Aiko, Keiichi's parents. Keiichi's parents were eating breakfast and Mion had a bit with them as well, even though she had already eaten breakfast with her grandmother back at her house. Mion figured that it was probably better to be polite by eating a little bit than not eating anything at all, regardless of whether she was hungry or not. However, missing from this familial scene was Keiichi, the person that Mion had come here to meet and subsequently walk to school with.

"Mion, Keiichi is probably sleeping in again," said Aiko, "So if you could be a dear and wake him up… I don't think he would mind waking up to the face of his sweetheart."

"W-What?" said a red faced Mion. "But what if I catch Kei-chan not decent?"

"It's fine," said Ichirou. "Keiichi doesn't sleep naked or anything like that. Besides, you've probably seen him in worse right?"

Mion's face turned a slight shade of red. Keiichi's father had just insinuated something deviant; unfortunately for Mion, she had indeed seen Keiichi in worse. She had seen him in women's undergarments, put there by Mion herself, not literally of course. Mion had once forced him into women's panties as part of a maid outfit, and subsequently lifted up his skirt to take a peek. Keiichi's blushing face on that day was so cute that Mion mouth broke into a slightly sly grin without her knowing, from just recalling the moment. Her guilt over making Ichirou question his son's life-style choices seemingly dissipated.

"I'll go wake up Kei-chan right now! Ahahahaha," said Mion, cackling a little too deviously. Mion was now more than willing to wake up Keiichi.

Mion then ran upstairs to find and wake Keiichi up in his room. Mion's face was turning redder by the second, and drool could be seen falling out of the lowest corner of her mouth. She giggled perversely as she hoped to catch Keiichi in various manners of undress. She frequently referred to herself as an old man; and at that very moment, she resembled just that, a very perverted one at that.

Mion didn't have a very difficult time finding Keiichi's room as it was essentially the room at the top of the stairs. Mion braced herself before entering; readying herself for the gloriously undressed form that Keiichi would undoubtedly be in. Disappointment was what waited for Mion as she entered Keiichi's room. Keiichi's body was completely covered by his futon covers, only his head was visible. All of Mion's mental preparation immediately prior to entering Keiichi's room was met with such an anticlimactic end. There was no Keiichi sleeping in the buff, nor was there a Keiichi whose private areas were covered by his covers wrapping around his legs like in so many magazine covers. It was just a normally sleeping Keiichi. Mion was disappointed but as her eyes fell on Keiichi's face; she couldn't help but feel relaxed. Keiichi's face was so serene as he slept. Mion wondered if Keiichi was dreaming about her and she could feel her own face grow red just thinking about it. Mion loathed having to wake up her precious Keiichi, but she wouldn't have been much of a slave owner if she let her slave sleep in. In one swift motion, Mion instantly pulled off Keiichi's covers, uncovering him completely.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" said Keiichi. He seethed at the previous warmth of his covers being replaced by a rush of cold air. His eyes opened quickly only to meet Mion's wickedly grinning face, as low-pitched perverted guffaws escaped her mouth. It was a terrifying face for a boy to have to wake up to. Keiichi then realized his own state of undress, which was actually a standard white undershirt and boxers, but seeing Mion's perverted face made him incredibly embarrassed, more than it should've the situation warranted. He did the only thing he could think of, the only thing anyone would do when faced with such a situation; he curled into a fetal position and covered up his groin area with his arms. "Don't look!" said Keiichi pathetically.

The sight was just too moe~ for Mion. Her head was instantly pushed back a few inches, as though a great force had punched it back; and just like what happens when a great force punches you in the head, Mion received a nosebleed. She quickly attempted to block the blood that was spewing from her nose with her hand but it was flowing out too fast. Keiichi hadn't noticed all of this as he was still curled up in a fetal position.

"Ah Kei-chan!" said Mion, her voice muffled by her hand, as she began to run out of the room. "Get dressed or we'll be late to school." And then she was out of his room and began frantically searching for the bathroom. _Not this room_, thought Mion as she opened the door of a room that didn't belong to a bathroom, _Damn it! Not this room either. Come on… come on…_ And finally she found the bathroom after leaving several doors in the Maebara home open. She quickly went inside it and slammed the door of the bathroom shut; she couldn't allow anyone to see her like this, especially not Keiichi. As she stuck little rolls of tissue paper into her nostrils, she began to wonder why her body had reacted so extremely to Keiichi like that. Mion had seen Keiichi in much more compromising ways, the incident in which she lifted up his skirt was foremost in her mind. So she couldn't understand why her body was doing this to her. But she had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the fact that Mion and Keiichi were now together. Perhaps her body was now telling her to stop putting Keiichi in as many compromising positions. After all, if Mion were to get another extreme reaction from penalizing Keiichi then it would be as though she was being penalized herself.

"It'd be like we were one," said Mion. She was talking to herself in the mirror. "Ack! I can't think of something like that, it's too embarrassing. And besides! If what I'm thinking is right then I can no longer see Kei-chan in maid outfits and the like. That is just too depressing! How can this old man continue living without such delights to pass me by the days?"

Suddenly Mion heard a knock on the bathroom door and she realized that she had taken up far too much time in the bathroom. She prayed that the person outside hadn't heard her outer monologue and that the person outside wasn't Keiichi. But as she opened the door, it was of course Keiichi.

"Tch Mion," said Keiichi, "You woke me up from such a nice sleep by tearing me apart from my covers, and then you yell that we'll be late for school and yet you take up so much time here in the bathroom? That is just like you." Keiichi was teasing her, although his words spoke the truth. "Hmmm. Wait a second, what's that in your nose Mion?"

"Ahahaha. There's nothing in my nose," said Mion as she suddenly took out the tissue paper and tossed it into the trash bin with remarkable accuracy. She silently cursed at having forgotten to take the bloody little tissue papers out of her nose before opening the door. "Yep, nothing at all. You really shouldn't make such weird jokes Kei-chan. Telling an old man there's something in her nose, ahahahahaha!"

Keiichi looked a little concerned. "Are you sure Mion? You weren't bleeding right?"

Mion shook her head rapidly, an obvious negative.

"As long as you're all right," said Keiichi. And then he gave her a pat on the head.

Mion blushed and aimed her eyes downward as Keiichi patted her head. Keiichi seldom did that for her, his signature head-patting was usually reserved for the younger club members and not his superior in the club hierarchy. Mion had always been jealous when the other club members received this kind of attention from Keiichi, but now Keiichi was attending to _her_. She liked this feeling, she liked that Keiichi was treating her like a girl.

Keiichi misinterpreted Mion's look. Truthfully, head patting was not something he had ever done before he moved to Hinamizawa. Not for his little cousins, not for anyone. But it was something he took up when he moved here so that he could be a more actively friendly person. He decided when he first moved to Hinamizawa to be a different person from his city counterpart; he wanted to be a friendly person, someone that people liked and someone that people enjoyed receiving attention from. Head patting was part of that package. But Keiichi misinterpreted Mion's look and he stopped patting her head and began rubbing his own head in embarrassment instead. However, after remembering that he was rubbing his hair with the hand that had just touched Mion's hair, he quickly stuffed his hand into the pocket of his school uniform. As he thought more about his head patting, he realized that it was a little creepy. "Sorry Mion but was that a little weird?" said Keiichi apologetically.

"No!" shouted Mion immediately as she looked up at him, but after realizing how frantic she had become, she calmed down. "I mean… it's not weird at all. You can continue if you like…" Mion was speaking really softly.

Keiichi was still surprised at Mion's ability to transform from the tyrant slave driver who forced him out of bed to a meek soft-spoken girl. Although he shouldn't have been, Mion had always been like this. Keiichi couldn't remember but there were times in which Mion had to pretend to be her sister to be able to reveal this side of her. Mion didn't have to do this here though; she was more than willing to show Keiichi this side of her. She had just always hoped that Keiichi would recognize it, and he did these days. Keiichi giving Mion a doll was proof enough of that.

"All right," said Keiichi, "If you want, I can still…" But just as Keiichi once again moved his hand to continue patting Mion, a voice interrupted the moment between the two.

"Keiichi, Mion! You two are going to be late for school if you don't leave now!" yelled Keiichi's mother.

"Damn it," said Keiichi, "we should probably get going." He then went downstairs, leaving a disappointed Mion still standing in the bathroom.

"Oh well," said Mion to herself. "I still have a long walk to school with Keiichi." She then followed him downstairs, cackling deviously as she imagined the various things she could do with Keiichi before school.

Downstairs, Keiichi and Mion said goodbye to the Maebara adults as they prepared to leave for school. Keiichi rapidly stuffed his face as he had missed breakfast.

"You know Aiko, perhaps we should let these kids miss school today," said Ichirou. "It's not useful to keep your head in the books all day. We should let them have fun!"

Aiko just glared at her husband. Although she no longer pressured her son regarding his studies as she used to, nor does she focus only on that aspect of his life, school was still a very important thing. Ichirou got the point and said nothing else.

"Oh right," said Aiko. "I've actually forgotten to make you lunch as well. So perhaps you can bring some of the leftovers from breakfast?"

Keiichi was a little surprised that his mother had forgotten, she was always on top of these things. But given all of the zaniness of the previous day, Keiichi figured that his mother was probably tired from whatever she and his dad did while Mion and him wandered around Okinomiya. "Sure, I'll ju—"

"It's okay," interrupted Mion, she was blushing. "I actually made Kei-chan something for lunch today…"

Ichirou silently applauded his son, while Aiko smiled at the resourcefulness of her son's sweetheart. Keiichi himself was shocked by this new development. _Mion, the tough club president, made me lunch?_ thought Keiichi. _Wait a sec. Wasn't I supposed to be Mion's slave this week? I feel like a jerk, Mion made me something. Well, I should at least thank her. _"Mion, tha—"

But before Keiichi could even begin thanking Mion, Mion grabbed his wrist and ran outside of the house with him in tow. She offered only a quick farewell to Keiichi's parents.

Outside of the house, Mion let go of Keiichi's wrist and just began walking towards the school. She didn't say anything to Keiichi during all of this; she just walked with downcast eyes. Her face hadn't once stopped blushing after she revealed that she had made Keiichi lunch. Keiichi followed right beside her but he found her behavior to be very odd. After all, Mion was supposed to be working him like a dog this week.

"Any idea where Rena is?" asked Keiichi. "Isn't she normally the one to pick me up from my house and don't we normally go meet you at the watermill? What's with the change in routine?"

"I called Rena already," said Mion softly. "I told her that Oji-san would like to walk alone with you before school." Her face had a very apparent shade of red, one that actually didn't escape Keiichi's notice.

"Ah," replied Keiichi. He didn't know what to make of all this. Mion wanted time alone with him, that much was certain even for a dense bloke like Keiichi. But what Keiichi was less certain about was what Mion wanted to do with him during this time. Mion's current silence was proof enough for Keiichi that what the two of them were currently doing, walking, was insufficient. But Keiichi had no clue as to what they could possibly do during this time. He guessed that they could possibly play a game, race or something. But the mood definitely didn't call for it. Keiichi then remembered what the two of them had done the last time they were alone. After they had touched faces, the mere recollection of it brought a blush to Keiichi's face; Mion forcefully grabbed his hand with her own and laced them together. It was nice. Perhaps she wanted to do that now. Keiichi's eyes quickly glanced over at Mion whose face was aimed directly forward. She had one free hand; conveniently it was the hand closest to him. It would've been easy enough for him to hold it. There was just one problem, Keiichi didn't have the guts. He was gutsy when it came to a lot of things and many of them even included Mion. However, after realizing that he liked Mion and that she liked him back, the dynamics of their relationship already began to change significantly. So many times in the past did Keiichi grab Mion's wrist, but now he was too afraid of taking a tiny step further in that direction, he probably wouldn't have been able to grab her wrist now either. Keiichi, the magician of words, the moe~ veteran, was too afraid to hold a girl's hand. And yet, it was easy enough for him to keep his hand in hers last night.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Keiichi, he didn't have to initiate the action. Mion roughly grabbed his hand and laced it with hers, causing their arms to be wrapped around each other, much like what she had done last night. Keiichi instantly turned his head to face her, shock on his face. Mion was still looking straight ahead, although Keiichi could barely make a light blush on her cheeks. Keiichi was surprised by Mion's sudden action and he became even more surprised when she rested her head on his shoulder while they were both still walking. Keiichi became very embarrassed.

"Uh Mion," said Keiichi with a nervous blush. "People are staring at us… and giggling. It's embarrassing."

Indeed, there were people farming on both sides of the path that Keiichi and Mion were walking. They were staring and giggling at the sight of the heiress of the Sonozaki Estate walking so closely with the son of that famous artist. There was always such easy gossip amongst the villagers when Maebara's son was involved. And now Mion was adding to that fuel. Although Mion was always the catalyst for the gossip; after all, it was she who forced Keiichi into those costumes.

Mion wouldn't let anything distract her from enjoying this time with Keiichi, especially something as trivial as Keiichi's embarrassment in front of the villagers. "Slaves shouldn't concern themselves with minor details Kei-chan," said Mion, still not moving her head from its resting place on Keiichi's shoulder. Mion was finally allowing herself to be bold with Keiichi; she definitely wasn't going to let Keiichi's embarrassment stop her.

"And here I was, thinking that you were going to forget about my penalty," said Keiichi in an attempt to act tough, unfortunately his blush gave him away.

"Kukkuku," laughed Mion. "That definitely won't happen; Oji-san's going to savor every last moment of your slavery. And besides, I still haven't gotten you into that country maid outfit yet. I have no intention of having to win _another_ penalty game to get you into that thing. Yes… Kei-chan in another maid outfit…" Mion began to drool onto Keiichi's shoulder.

"Mion, you should probably get some more sleep. Seriously, you're drooling on my shoulder right now," said Keiichi in an attempt to make things slightly less awkward.

"Sorry Kei-chan. But please, don't worry about the stares we're getting. Just pretend we're alone. I just want some alone time with you, at least for this week…" Mion then began to doze off as she let Keiichi guide her to school, it appeared as though he was right and that she was genuinely tired. But the truth of the matter was that she was just so at peace with Keiichi as she held his hand and used his shoulder as a pillow, that she couldn't help but rest her eyes a bit.

Keiichi couldn't help but marvel at the resting girl whose head was on his shoulder and whose arm was wrapped around his. But at this angle, all Keiichi could see was Mion's green hair that ran down into a long ponytail.

"You know Mion, you're actually really cute like this," said Keiichi.

Mion, upon hearing the obvious compliment, did the only thing she could think of to shake off her embarrassment. She slapped him hard on the back and started running off.

"It's a race now Kei-chan! Whoever gets to the school first gets to pick a punishment for the other!" said Mion, already a fair distance ahead of him.

"What!? No fair!" said Keiichi but as he began to chase after her, his frown changed into a smile. In his mind, nothing else but happy days could follow today.

* * *

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KILL ME!? I just wanted these happy days to last forever… Is my life that important, that you have to kill me?" These words belonged to a raving lunatic tied down to a hospital bed. It was Keiichi.

Surrounding Keiichi was the other club members and they all looked worried, Dr. Irie Kyosuke was also with them. They were inside the Irie Clinic.

"Director, Keiichi-kun's been acting like this after Satoko bumped his head with her trap," said a worried looking Rena, Keiichi's mad ranting still making up the background sound.

"I-I'm sorry," said Satoko apologetically. "I didn't know he'd go insane from a bump on the head, normally he'd just shout at me and give me a finger flick. If I knew that hitting him on the head like this repeatedly would cause this then I would've never done it."

"It's okay Satoko…" said an equally worried looking Mion. "I doubt Kei-chan's acting like this because of a tiny head bump." The others agreeing to her assertation.

"Mion's right," said Irie. "A head bump wouldn't cause a response like this, not as immediately or intense as this at least. I had another hypothesis as to why this was happening… but the treatment for that isn't working. I don't think there's an explanation for this beyond that of psychological trauma. But once again, I don't think your traps alone could've caused this Satoko-chan."

"So do you think Keiichi's shouting these crazy things because of some past history that got triggered, possibly because of Satoko's trap?" asked Rika.

Irie was surprised at Rika's deduction. "I don't think it was even Satoko-chan's trap. Perhaps he was just long overdue for this kind of trauma."

"But it doesn't make sense," said Rena. "Even if he did suffer a traumatic history, why is he saying that _we_ hurt him, that _we_ want to kill him? I wonder… I wonder…"

"Perhaps he once had friends that caused him pain," replied Irie. "And since you're all his friends now, perhaps it is being extended to you."

Rena didn't seem convinced. Rika herself though, she knew better. She knew that Keiichi, somehow, against all odds remembered many of the past lives that they had led. But that knowledge had broken him. What had triggered this rush of memories, however, was beyond her knowledge. She gave a quick glance at the invisible Hanyuu who looked just as worried as the rest of them; after all, Keiichi was her friend too, even if he didn't know she was there. And at this moment, Keiichi didn't know that any of them was there, he was somewhere else completely.

"Anyway, it is late," said Irie. "You should all go home, he'll be safe here and then tomorrow you can all come back to visit him. His parents will also be back from Tokyo by then."

The club members began to leave the hospital room but Rena didn't budge an inch, as she continued looking at Keiichi with sorrowful eyes.

"Do you mind if I stayed a few more minutes?" asked Rena to Irie.

"Sure, but don't be long," replied Irie as he became the last to leave, leaving only Keiichi and Rena in the room.

Rena looked at Keiichi, her eyes were misty.

Keiichi's voice was now but a faint whisper. In the state that he was in now, his voice often alternated between loud roars and barely audible whispers.

"Leave me alone… leave me alone… leave me alone… happy days gone… just leave me alone…" said Keiichi.

"Keiichi-kun?" said Rena, her soft eyes holding back too many tears that they seemed ready to burst. "What's wrong with you? I wonder… is there anything I can do to help?"

Keiichi gave no indication that he had heard what Rena said. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… my dear friends. Even though I did what I had to. And I had to, there was no other way, I couldn't let myself go down like that… like that… there was no way… not like that… But still... sorry…"

Rena let out a single sob after hearing Keiichi say that. She didn't know what he was apologizing for, but whatever it was, she would forgive him. If he was that sorry, she would forgive him. If it was unforgivable then she could only forgive him even more. But what she would forgive him for, she didn't know.

Keiichi continued ranting. "And you took care of me so well too… I remember when I won you that bear at the festival… I think… I think… I could've fallen in love with you… Rena..."

"Wha? Keiichi-kun?" Rena began sobbing uncontrollably, Keiichi was talking as though he was dying. Keiichi had stopped ranting; he was now just lying still with a very strained look on his face. What Keiichi had said, they shouldn't have torn at the strings tying her heart as much as they did. It was definitely sad, but they seemed to echo something from long ago.

Rena couldn't bear it, she ran out the door into the waiting room and in her peripheral vision she saw Mion sitting in one of the many waiting chairs. Mion was also crying and she was a fair distance away, it was obvious she was thinking about something else and had not heard the one-sided exchange between Rena and Keiichi. But that was irrelevant, Rena seeing her best friend cry like that made Rena cry even harder and she could do nothing else but escape out the clinic.

Mion's tears were a lot more controlled but she was crying just the same. Noticing Rena leaving in the corner of her eye, Mion had to see Keiichi one last time before retreating for the night.

"Kei-chan…" was all Mion could mutter inside Keiichi's room. Keiichi himself was quiet, deafly quiet.

Mion was holding something, a switchblade. She wondered what it was; it was something that Keiichi had dropped when Satoko trapped him. What was it? She wanted to ask him, but he was in no state. At the moment, she was far more worried about his present predicament. His mind was undoubtedly broken, would he even get better? She hoped he would, but the things he spoke of in this state made her doubt that he could get better unless something was done.

"Mion…" whispered Keiichi suddenly. "Sorry I didn't get you that doll."

* * *

Author's Note:

Not sure I have the heart to continue this thing. It's no longer very fun to write, just disgusting. This chapter was actually completed 2 months ago but I didn't have the heart to post it. Perhaps in a few months... Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed the WAFF, I sure didn't as can be seen in the mood whiplashings. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is greatly desired and goes a long way in making me continue with this fic. The reason this fic was posted was actually because of a reviewer that said I used the word 'blushing' too much. Perusing over this dusty document proved this to be the case. Editing this document gave me the courage to post this chapter, that and the Mother 3 Love Theme.

But I'm writing this mostly for the enjoyment of others as well as the improvement of my own writing. One simple solution for proving that this fic is actually being enjoyed is through reviews! This would also help me improve in my writing or at the very least, point me out to where I excel or fail. Favoriting would also help this fic get around so I wouldn't mind that either. So here's the quota, 30 reviews and this fic will be continued.


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